Luuk De Jong

{Profile Updated 18/06/2012}





Date of Birth: - 27th August 1990



Height: - 6ft 2inches



Position: - Versatile Striker.



Nationality: - Swiss (but eligible to play for Holland).



Club Career: - De Graafschap

- FC Twente





Linked with: - Liverpool FC

- Lazio

- Dortmund

- Spurs

- Lille

- Hamburg

- Newcastle (although interest seems to have passed now).



Estimated Market Value: - Around 12million Pounds.













Club Career



De Graafschap:

Luuk De Jong made his Eredivisie debut in a match against NAC Breda after coming up through the youth setup with De Graafschap. Two matches later (both appearances coming on as a substitute) Luuk De Jong became a starter in the first team to make his full senior club debut.



In his first match against Willem II, Luuk De Jong created an assist which eventually turned out to be the winner for the Dutch side, and immediately impressed . In the next match, Luuk De Jong then scored his first Eredivisie goal in a home match against FC Twente, turning out to be with a pivital goal with sides sharing the points.



Luuk's second goal came in later in the season, but boy was it worth the wait. After a free kick had been taken, it was headed on by Roger Meijer and went into the area of Luuk, who the proceeded to adjust his body and score with a phenomenal over-head kick which set the stadium alive, as it turned out to be the winning goal.



Unfortunately a few games later in the home game versus NEC Nijmegen, Luuk injured his ankle and was out for around 4 weeks. De Jong then came back from injury in the play-offs for promotion/relegation, and although he scored the winner in the home game versus RKC Waalwijk, it wasn't enough to keep De Graafschap in the Eredivisie as they were relegated.

















FC Twente

April 6th 2009 - it was confirmed that Luuk De Jong signed a 3 year contract with an option for another year with FC Twente. (Luuk's contract would start on the 1st of July 2009.



Luuk played his first minutes for FC Twente in the cup match against SC Joure, he came on as a second half substitute but still managed to create 2 goals in an 8-0 victory. In the next round of the cup, Luuk then scored his first two goals for FC Twente against Capelle, catching the eye of many fans and managers alike.



Late 2009 - Luuk made his Europa League debut against FC Sheriff Tiraspol.



In the next round again of the cup, Luuk scored another two goals in the match against Helmond Sport where Twente would go on and win the match 3-“0. This would then be rewarded by FC Twente as Luuk was then given his debut in the Eredivisie In the away game against FC Utrecht (coming on as a substitute).



De Jong deserved a starting against Werder Bremen in the knockout stage (32 teams) of the Europa League, and he did not disappoint. Luuk scored his first goal in the Europa League for FC Twente in the away game against Werder Bremen (which FC Twente lost 3-1).



29th February 2010 - De Jong scored his first Eredivisie goal for FC Twente in the home game against NEC. Once again, this proved to be with winning goal and fans were starting to adore him. Luuk scored his second Eredivisie goal just one month later in the home game against SC Heerenveen.



16th August 2011 - In the 2011/2012 season, De Jong's first goal of the season came in the first leg of Twente's Champions League play-off game against Benfica, a 2-2 home draw.



20th August 2011 - Luuk scored his first Eredivisie goal of the campaign in a 5-1 demolition of SC Heerenveen. The following week, on de Jong's 21st birthday, he found the back of the net two more times as Twente thumped VVV Venlo 4-1.



21st January 2012 - De Jong scored two more goals against RKC Waalwijk as Twente ran out 5-0 winners.



29th January 2012 - In Twente's following fixture against FC Groningen, De Jong netted a hat-trick and also provided an assist as his side won 4-1 and climbed to second in the Eredivisie table.



10th February 2012 - De Jong found the back of the net two more times but Twente missed the chance to go top of the league table, as they lost 3-2 to SC Heracles.



4th March 2012 - De Jong scored a goal in Twente's 6-2 thrashing of fellow title contenders PSV Eindhoven at the Philips Stadion. Four days later in a Europa League match against Schalke 04, De Jong successfully converted a penalty to ensure the win for his side by 1-0. However Twente ended up falling out of the competition, losing 4-1 in the second leg in Germany, as De Jong's fellow Dutchman Klaas-Jan Huntelaar netted a hat-trick.



14th April 2012 - De Jong scored twice in two minutes to put his side 2-1 up away to NAC Breda, but an injury-time strike from Nourdin Boukhari denied Twente the chance to close the gap on title-rivals Ajax.



He finished the season with 25 goals in joint-second place, 7 behind top-scorer Bas Dost.

















International Career:

9th February 2011 - De Jong received his first call-up for the Netherlands senior team for the friendly against Austria. and made his debut in the same match coming on as a substitute.



6th September 2011 - Luuk then scored his first goal with the national squad on in the 2-0 win during the UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying game against Finland.



7th May 2012 - Luuk was named in the provisional list of 36 players for the Euro 2012 tournament, but he was not used once in Holland's shocking campaign.



















Club Statistics:

De Graafschap - 14 appearances, 3 goals.



FC Twente - 2011/2012 season: - 50 appearances, 32 goals.



Total for FC Twente: 119 appearances, 59 goals.





Total: 138 appearances, 62 goals.

















General Comments:



Luuk De Jong looks like a general class player. He may not be the most skillful, but his eye for a pass certainly makes up for it, as he is not a greedy striker, but has that viscious streak of goals in him (the perfect combination). I think the best thing about Luuk's game, is his mentality, as he has that never-say-die attitude and gives 100% at all times.



I'd also say that Luuk De Jong has certainly matured as a player with each season that has passed, and he seems to be a player that genuinely does enjoy his football, which I feel is great to see if I'm honest. Luuk isn't the paciest player though, but weirdly, he does add pace to the team. What I mean by that is, he plays with a high pace with his short range passing - the typical 'pass and go' technique which he does so well, his ability to see balls before they are played and begin a run very early, but always time it to absolute perfection.



Onto the business end of this profile, Luuk De Jong has notably been a target of Liverpool for around a year now, but because of Liverpool's failure to make a bid/offer then it seems several other clubs are now interested. At the moment, it seems that De Jong has a fair few offers laying in wait for him. Lazio and Dortmund seem to be in the driving seat for Luuk's signature, although recent media speculation seems to say Benfica are in with a shout - and this would not surprise me at all. I would say that unless Liverpool make a bid very, very soon then they are out of the run to sign Luuk, and I'd say Dortmund would be favourites to secure his signature at this moment in time.



The Tottenham interest is one of very recent times, but I feel that it is unlikely a bid will be placed by Daniel Levy, and the same applies to Newcastle. For me, if he moves to the Premier League it would be with Liverpool, however this seems less and less likely by the day - although it is still perfectly possible.







Cheers all,





Ed022-}