Frenkie de Jong Before His Ajax Breakthrough: What the Veteran Reveals

TVS News AI, editorially supervised, presents Frenkie de Jong Before His Ajax Breakthrough: What the Veteran Reveals.

Haemhouts was 29, while de Jong was not yet 18. It was during that very period that Robbie Haemhouts remembers the future Ajax and Barcelona professional. Back then, the former Willem II prospect found himself in a training situation opposite Jürgen Streppel, did precisely the opposite of what the coach had asked and began dictating the play from the back.

The recollection comes from remarks that Mundo Deportivo published on 7 November 2026 at 19:16 CET, drawing on sources from Voetbal. It offers an unusual look at de Jong's path: not at goals, medals or a potential transfer, but at a moment when his technical self-assurance was already evident.

The crucial point is the discrepancy. Haemhouts, who was 29 years old at the time and is now 42, says he could not have managed to get a touch on the ball for Streppel even if he had tried. De Jong apparently let the shouts wash over him. “Le entraba por un oído y le salía por el otro,” recalls the former Belgian center-back: It came in through one ear and went out the other.

The Willem II Anecdote Reveals de Jong's Attitude

“You can shout at me whatever you want, but I know I am the best.” This is how Haemhouts describes the attitude de Jong displayed in that moment, in his assessment. The player seemed to think: You can tell me whatever you want, but I know that I am the best.

Haemhouts also remembers the Willem II youngster's promotion to the senior team. For the player he was then, de Jong was a young prospect who did not simply submit to every instruction from the coach. It was precisely his unusual response to Streppel that shaped Haemhouts' recollection: Instead of carrying out the instruction, de Jong offered a kind of dribbling response.

The report's punchline therefore lies less in any particular substitute than in the way Haemhouts describes de Jong. His ability to react was evident, but it was accompanied by exceptional confidence. The coach could not rein de Jong in with words. In retrospect, that fits with the plays Haemhouts later recognized at Ajax and Barcelona.

Haemhouts consequently formulates a decidedly unusual alternative to pure criticism: If the coach was right and the cheeky player needed to take a step back, should the team instead simply enjoy the beauty of the game and relish the fact that the boy was too good? In his view, the coach seemed unable to cope with that stubbornness.

From His Willem II Debut to an Ajax Contract

The chronology gives the training scene a clear context. De Jong made his Eredivisie debut on May 10, 2015, before he had celebrated his 18th birthday. In August of the same year, Ajax signed him. However, he remained on loan at Willem II until the end of the year.

His path to Ajax was therefore not an immediate move to Amsterdam. De Jong began with Willem II's senior professionals, subsequently signed for Ajax and experienced the first phase of his contract on loan in his existing environment. This adds an important detail to the recollection: Haemhouts saw de Jong's development in the company of Willem II's senior team, not only after a major appearance in Ajax's shirt.

Ajax then became the stage on which de Jong counted as one of Europe's great hopes. He was part of the Ajax squad that reached the Champions League semifinals. He had already achieved that when he joined FC Barcelona. This direct connection ties the small anecdote from everyday training life to the far greater international step that followed.

The recollection does not explain a success story from the outset. It does, however, show how someone who encountered de Jong every day back then already recognized the combination of technique and fearlessness that would later define his game. Dribbling out from the back was concrete proof of that in Streppel's training session.

Barcelona After Eight Seasons: His Response to Streppel's Criticism

De Jong is now in his eighth season at FC Barcelona. His journey from that training session in Tilburg through Ajax to the Barça team represented a major leap in experience and international significance. His technical insistence on not allowing the coach to dictate how he played became a defining feature of his game.

Haemhouts' account has two sides. On the one hand, it confirms that de Jong had already convinced those at Willem II of his ability. On the other, it does not simply portray his independence as a cheeky childhood stunt. In the experienced colleague's recollection, it was precisely the combination of talent and self-confidence that distinguished de Jong later at Ajax and Barcelona.

Haemhouts has been retired since 2019. His recollection therefore not only connects the time at Willem II with the major Ajax moment, but also offers a personal perspective: He experienced de Jong as a young player who responded to Streppel's shouts with dribbling and self-assurance. It is precisely this connection that makes the report more than an incidental career anecdote.

What the Recollection Says Beyond Ajax

The strongest statement is comparatively simple. De Jong did not allow the coach to knock him off his rhythm, and the team enjoyed the consequences of his decisions. For the Willem II professional of the day, that already hinted at what would follow with Ajax and Barcelona: a player who did not merely execute technique, but created room for himself and the game in an unusual way.

The specific scene therefore carries more weight than a simple character description. A coach was shouting, the young de Jong was dictating play from the back, and the older players already recognized the unpredictability that would later become part of his game. In retrospect, de Jong's development can be understood not only as a rise, but also as the evolution of a playing idea that was visible at an early stage.