Frenkie de Jong: Champions League Midfielder of the Season

Frenkie de Jong has won the Midfielder of the Season award for the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League campaign following his performances for Ajax.

The 22-year-old became one of the hottest properties in European football as the Amsterdam club battled their way through to the UEFA Champions League semi-finals, before losing out to Tottenham. Barcelona confirmed in January that the Dutchman would move to Camp Nou in time for the 2019/20 season.

Midfielder of the Season top ten

De Jong is now a Barcelona player©Getty Images

1 Frenkie de Jong (Ajax, now Barcelona)  – 222 points
2 Christian Eriksen (Tottenham) – 60 points
3 Jordan Henderson (Liverpool) – 59 points
4 Bernardo Silva (Manchester City) – 52 points
5 Georginio Wijnaldum (Liverpool) – 48 points
6 Moussa Sissoko (Tottenham) – 22 points
7 Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) – 21 points
8= Dušan Tadić (Ajax) – 20 points
8= Hakim Ziyech (Ajax) – 20 points
10= Donny van de Beek (Ajax) – 19 points
10= Sergio Busquets (Barcelona) – 19 points

De Jong's 2018/19 in numbers

Honours: Eredivisie winner, Dutch Cup winner, UEFA Nations League runner-up

Individual accolades: UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season, Eredivisie Player of the Season, UEFA Nations League Young Player of the Tournament

De Jong with his UEFA Nations League award©UEFA.com

UEFA Champions League
Appearances: 11
Minutes: 986
Goals: 0
Assists: 0

Domestic league
Appearances: 31
Goals: 3

De Jong testimonials

"He is always calm and always has the solution. He scans [the game] so well that he always knows how to go forward. You can hardly put him under pressure – that is such a great gift."
Erik ten Hag, Ajax coach

"I really think he is a revelation. You might laugh, but he is a better version of Franz Beckenbauer. People must interpret that properly. What I really mean is that he also has speed and passes easily. That's an enormous weapon."
Arie Haan, former Ajax and Netherlands midfielder

De Jong celebrates a UEFA Champions League win©AFP/Getty Images

How De Jong was chosen

The jury comprised the coaches of the 32 clubs in the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League group stage, together with 55 journalists selected by the European Sports Media (ESM) group, representing each of UEFA's member associations. Coaches were not allowed to vote for players from their own teams.

Jury members chose their top three players per position, with the first receiving five points, the second three and the third one. The player who received the most points in each category was named the winner.

Other award winners

UEFA Men's Player of the Year: Virgil van Dijk
UEFA Women's Player of the Year: Lucy Bronze
Goalkeeper of the Season: Alisson Becker
Defender of the Season: Virgil van Dijk
Forward of the Season: Lionel Messi