How becoming a dad helped Nigel De Jong re-unite with his own father

London -  Nigel De Jong has revealed that it was only when he became a father himself - just weeks before joining Manchester City three years ago - that he finally decided to mend broken ties with his own ‘estranged’ dad.

The Manchester City midfielder spent his teenage years growing up on a tough Amsterdam council estate after his father Jerry, himself a former international defender who played in the great Holland team, deserted his family following of a bitter divorce from his wife, Marja.

But the bond between father and son snapped completely in 2000 when Jerry was sacked by Belgian club MVV Maastricht after stealing a credit card from a team-mate wallet - just as Nigel was building his reputation in Ajax’s youth team, the Mirror reported.
 
“It was an emotional and euphoric moment,” said De Jong.

“I called my dad after I had become a father and soon he was stood there on my doorstep.

“It was my first child and his first grandchild. I needed him to be there because we are all the same blood.”

The 27-year-old said that although he does not appreciate the way his father once lived his life, but he is ‘proud’ of the way he has fought back.

“The divorce of my parents was the first time that something in my had life broke. Then there was the other incident that happened with him,” he said.

“I am proud of how my father has fought back in life, but I am not proud of the way he once lived his life and how he finished his career. There was no need for it.

“I still don’t understand the choices he made in his life. But he has paid a big price for it and it has cost him a lot of energy to get where he is now.”

De Jong also recalled that he once considered his dad to be his idol.

“As a little boy I saw my dad as my absolute idol. I would watch his football games on video for hours on the tv. I used to watch so many old VHS video tapes,” he asserted.

“But when the foundation under our relationship fell away, it took a lot of time glueing all the pieces together again. Now there are just a few cracks you can still see.

“I am a dad myself now and I can judge things better. I can understand why he said certain things or why he did certain things,” he added.