Nigel de Jong: ‘The team is the most important thing right now'’

Nigel de Jong made only 14 appearances last season, yet he believes his contribution in the upcoming campaign will be greater.

De Jong claimed that the European championship was very disappointing for him as the team did not even qualify from the group. Yet the player now looks forward to start a new season, describing his return to training: ‘It’s good to be on the pitch again. It’s always nice to see the ball again and just to have the smell of the grass and great to get back into training.’

The player added: ‘The team is the most important thing right now and we have a big squad’.

The player said that a lot of people would look up to the club and teams would focus on beating City, yet he noticed the squad would be calm and focused on showing their best on the pitch.