Spoiler

Ever wondered what de Jong does when he’s not at work?

… he works

Like crafting the perfect steak dinner, the key to keeping a footballer in peak condition is to rest him. Frazzle him in training, grill him during a game, but then allow him some downtime. What he does with this is his choice.

Of course, this is where the hardened street hacks really get their kicks, as they hunt for “resting” footballers in the country’s most slinky nightclubs, or rifle through their bins looking for condom wrappers with someone else’s lipstick on them. But, every once in a while, a sportsman will actually be found doing something worthwhile with his afternoon off. Nigel de Jong, for example.

As living proof that not all successful businessmen/women are required to have the right measure of troll-features and hunchbacks to counteract their blistering wealth, de Jong has famously straddled the business world and the football world with remarkable aplomb - in his day job he’s a cherished Dutch footballer with a cluster of international caps, then by afternoon/night he runs a successful car dealership, selling nice motors to wealthy oil tycoons, footballers, and rather fittingly, sheiks.

Anyway, the word filtering in (via the Man City website) is that de Jong recently spent a happy afternoon explaining how to be a brilliant entrepreneur to a cluster of awe-stricken school kids, who presumably can’t bear the thought of having to actually work for the rest of their lives.  It was all part of the City in the Community’s “Enterprise City” scheme. The midfielder said this:

“I really enjoyed the afternoon, I was very impressed with the way the kids put their plans down on paper and explained their ideas.”

“It’s great to see that even at a young age they are thinking about what they can do later in life, everyone needs to plan for their future and the kids that I met are going to do well if they carry on in the way they have started.”

Yep, he’s in danger of giving footballers a good name, that Nigel de Jong.

• car business
• City in the Community
• Nigel de Jong