Tahith Chong


Tahith Chong is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a right winger for English club Manchester United.
He has played for the Netherlands national team from under-15 to under-21 level.

Early life

Chong was born in Willemstad, Curaçao which was then part of the Netherlands Antilles. He is of African and Chinese descent. He later moved to Rotterdam, Netherlands, in order to pursue a move to a professional club. Upon completing a move to Manchester United, Chong's parents also moved to England.

Club career

Early career

Chong joined the youth ranks of Eredivisie club Feyenoord aged 10, and had attracted interest from several Premier League clubs by the age of 16. In September 2014, Chong took part in the Manchester Premier Cup at the Carrington Training Ground, where he was spotted by Manchester United scouts. In early 2016, Chong was on the verge of joining Chelsea.

Manchester United

Youth

In April 2016, Chong announced that he was to join Manchester United after Feyenoord failed to "make a plan" for him. The transfer was made official three months later upon receiving international clearance. Initially linking up with the Under-18s, Chong scored his club's only goal of their 2016–17 FA Youth Cup campaign as they suffered a third round exit to Southampton. The following month, he was ruled out for the remainder of the season after suffering a cruciate ligament injury. Making his return 10 months later for the Under-23s, Chong went on to be named the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year in May 2018.

Senior

In July 2018, Chong was called up to the first team for their pre-season tour in the United States. In their opening game, he featured as a second-half substitute in a 1–1 draw against Club América, followed by starting in their goalless draw against the San Jose Earthquakes. Chong also made cameo appearances in defeats to Liverpool and Bayern Munich.
On 23 October, he was named as an unused substitute for the first time in United's 1–0 defeat to Juventus in the Champions League. Following the appointment of Ole Gunnar Solskjær as caretaker manager, Chong was named as a substitute in a 2–0 win at Newcastle United. Three days later, he made his competitive debut replacing Juan Mata in a 2–0 FA Cup victory against Reading. Chong made his Premier League debut on 2 March 2019, replacing Marcus Rashford in injury time of United's 3–2 win over Southampton. On 6 March, Chong made his UEFA Champions League debut, coming off the bench in a 3–1 win against Paris Saint-Germain in a Round of 16 second leg match.
At the end of the season, Chong was named the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year award. In doing so, he became the first player since Giuseppe Rossi to win the award the year after being named the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year. On March 9 2020, Chong signed a new contract that will keep him at the club until 2022, with the option to extend a further year.

International career

Chong represented the Dutch national team at the 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship and scored the only goal in the quarter-final victory against Sweden.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual