How Frenkie rose to elite level before Ajax

Former Willem II teammate Robbie Haemhouts recalls De Jong's fearless rise through the ranks, ignoring coaching instructions to play his own way.

Frenkie de Jong is in his eighth season at Barcelona after arriving as one of Europe's brightest prospects from Ajax, where he helped the club reach a Champions League semi-final. A former teammate from his early days at Willem II has now shared an anecdote about De Jong's emergence at that level.

Robbie Haemhouts, a retired Belgian midfielder who was 29 at the time, recalled a training session under coach Jürgen Streppel where De Jong ignored direct instructions from the touchline. "A boy entered the training pitch and did exactly the opposite of what the coach told him. He started dribbling from the back, something he would later do at Ajax and Barcelona," Haemhouts said. Despite the coach's shouting, De Jong appeared unfazed, with Haemhouts sensing the young player's confidence: "You can shout at me all you want, but I know I'm the best."

Haemhouts reflected on whether the coach was right to demand obedience or whether De Jong's exceptional talent justified his maverick approach. "Should we appreciate the beauty of the game and conclude the boy is too good? It seemed the coach couldn't handle it," he concluded. De Jong, a Willem II academy product, made his Eredivisie debut on 10 May 2015 at just 17, before joining Ajax in August 2015.