Man Utd and Chelsea transfer target Frenkie de Jong is named after Brit pop group and loves his gran’s meatballs

DUTCH superstar Frenkie de Jong might have dreamed of playing for Barcelona, but it was a band from Merseyside that influenced his mum’s mind when she named him.

Marjon Schuchhard gave birth to the midfielder, 25, enduring a 33-hour long labour, on May 12, 1997.

The healthcare worker was a fan of the band Frankie Goes to Hollywood – famous for 1980s belter ‘Relax’ – and named her first-born after them.

Subtly, she replaced the ‘a’ for an ‘e’ as she knew no-one by that name.

But it’s not the bright lights of Los Angeles for de Jong.

Instead, Frenkie could be headed to England – with Man Utd and Chelsea declaring their interest in the 44-cap Holland international.

Reports have suggested Barcelona are willing to sell de Jong, however he is reluctant to leave the Camp Nou because the club owe him wages of around £17million.

A move to Stamford Bridge, though, could tempt him as de Jong craves Champions League football, despite the offer of a reunion with old Ajax boss Erik ten Hag at Old Trafford.

Barcelona move

It was back in 2019, the Catalan club forked out £65million for de Jong, who comes from the small village of Arkel in South Holland.

He followed in the footsteps of Dutch icons Johan Cruyff, Ronald Koeman, Patrick Kluivert and Marc Overmars in playing for both Ajax and Barca.

So crucial was his decision to move to the LaLiga giants he spoke to both Koeman and Overmars before making the decision.

“I asked [Marc] about Barcelona and he said, ‘It’s amazing, I went there for four years. It was amazing – the players and the people in the city, just to live there. If you get the chance, you have to take it’,” De Jong recalled.

And he did, signing a five-year deal with the Spanish giants.

The expectation around him was so great that many compared the youngster to Holland’s most outstanding export, Cruyff.

“I feel honoured but I don’t think you can compare the two of us,” De Jong told The Guardian.

“He is so much better than me. He had so much quality. I will never reach that level.”

De Jong’s career began at the age of four when his father, a traffic warden, took him to an open day at their local club.

“Frenkie outplayed all the eight- and nine-year old boys,” his grandfather Jan de Bruijn told Dutch newspaper NRC.

Willem II, renowned for developing the likes of Virgil van Dijk, picked up De Jong at the age of seven.

His grandfather would do the one-hour drive to Tilburg for training while his parents worked.

Boy to man

It was there at Willem II that de Jong met his girlfriend, Mikky Kiemeney, a former hockey player who debuted for HC Den Bosch’s women’s team in 2015, aged 17. They became engaged this summer.

Kiemeney posted a photo of the childhood sweethearts on Instagram in September 2015 when De Jong signed for Ajax.

Despite the move, De Jong would make the hour-long journey from the Dutch capital to his hometown to visit his mother.

On the way, he would always stop in at his grandparents for his favourite meatballs.

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Those trips may not be as frequent today with Barcelona 1,000-miles away.

And his love for the club might have somewhat waned, following the latest pay row. De Jong agreed to a pay cut during the pandemic, and is still owed £17million in back pay.

He didn’t get to play with idol Lionel Messi either, who left for PSG last summer. But it’s still the club of his dreams.

Childhood friend Sander Dekkers told NRC: “Joining the Messi club is very special to him.

“But it is not enough. Frenkie wants to be the best midfielder in the world, yes, perhaps the best football player in the world.”

Chelsea? Manchester? Hollywood? Wherever, Frenkie is going places.

Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk