Tahith Jose Girigorio Djorkaef Chong (born 4 December 1999) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, winger or forward for club

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

. Chong joined the Manchester United Academy aged 16, after progressing through the Feyenoord youth system. He won both the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year and Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year awards at United. He made his professional debut in 2019, in an

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

game against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

. In August 2020, he joined

Werder Bremen Sportverein Werder Bremen von 1899 e. V. (), commonly known as Werder Bremen, Werder or simply Bremen, is a German professional sports club based in Bremen. Founded on 4 February 1899, Werder are best known for their professional association foo ...

on a season-long loan, which was cut short in January 2021 to facilitate a loan move to

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

. He spent the 2021–22 season on loan at

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

, joined the club on a four-year contract in September 2022, and moved on to Luton Town in July 2023. Chong made more than 40 appearances for the Netherlands national youth teams from under-15 to under-21 level. He is also eligible to represent Curaçao at international level.

Early life

Chong was born in

Willemstad Willemstad ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Curaçao, an island in the southern Caribbean Sea that is a Countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was the cap ...

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

, which was then part of the Netherlands Antilles. He is of Chinese descent. He later moved to

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, Netherlands to pursue a move to a professional club. Upon completing a move to

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, Chong moved with his parents to England.

Club career

Early career

Chong joined the youth ranks of

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

club

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

aged 10, and had attracted interest from several

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

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

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 The 2016–17 FA Youth Cup was the 65th edition of the FA Youth Cup. The defending champions were Chelsea F.C., Chelsea and they retained the trophy for the fourth year in a row after a 6–2 aggregate victory over Manchester City F.C., Manchester ...

campaign as they suffered a third round exit to

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. The following month, he was ruled out for the remainder of the season after suffering a

cruciate ligament Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint, wrist joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in ...

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 The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In their opening game, he featured as a second-half substitute in a 1–1 draw against

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América, is a professional association football, football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

, followed by starting in their goalless draw against the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

. On 23 October, he was named as an unused substitute for the first time in United's 1–0 defeat to

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

in the Champions League. Following the appointment of

Ole Gunnar Solskjær Ole Gunnar Solskjær (; born 26 February 1973) is a Norwegian professional football manager and former player who currently manages Süper Lig club Beşiktaş. He spent the majority of his playing career with Manchester United and made 67 appea ...

as caretaker manager, Chong made his competitive debut replacing

Juan Mata Juan Manuel Mata García (born 28 April 1988) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for A-League Men club Western Sydney Wanderers FC, Western Sydney Wanderers. He primarily plays as an attacking ...

in a 2–0

victory against

on 5 January. At the end of the season, he was named the Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year award, becoming the first player since

Giuseppe Rossi Giuseppe Rossi (; born 1 February 1987) is a former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. Born in the United States, Rossi spent most of his career in Europe with Villarreal CF, Vi ...

to win the award the year after being named the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year. On 9 March 2020, Chong signed a new contract to keep him at the club until 2022, with the option to extend a further year.

Werder Bremen and Club Brugge loans

On 16 August 2020, Chong joined

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

club

on a season-long loan. On 12 September, he scored his first goal in his first competitive match for Werder Bremen against

FC Carl Zeiss Jena FC Carl Zeiss Jena () is a German football club based in Jena, Thuringia. Founded in 1903, it was initially associated with the optics manufacturer Carl Zeiss. From the 1960s to the 1980s it was one of the top-ranked clubs in East Germany, won ...

in the

DFB-Pokal The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English language, English, is a German knockout Association football, football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competiti ...

. Chong's loan was cut short in January 2021. Chong joined

Belgian First Division A The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023– ...

club

on loan on 30 January, and scored on his debut four days later in a

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

game against Olsa Brakel.

Birmingham City (loan)

On 9 July 2021, Chong joined

on a season-long loan. However, he spent pre-season ahead of the 2021–22 campaign at his parent club, and joined Birmingham in time for the start of the Championship season. He made his debut for Birmingham in a 1–0 win over Sheffield United on 7 August, and two weeks later, he made two assists in a 5–0 win over

. On 2 November 2021, Chong returned to Manchester United for his rehabilitation following surgery on a serious groin injury. He returned to Birmingham in February 2022, and two minutes into his first start after his return, away to

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

, he opened the scoring in a 2–1 win; it was his only goal for the club. He lasted another month before a hamstring injury kept him out until the last match of the season.

Birmingham City

On 1 September 2022, Chong signed a four-year contract with

for an undisclosed fee.

Luton Town

On 14 July 2023, Chong signed for newly-promoted Premier League side

for an undisclosed fee. On 5 November 2023, he scored his first Premier League goal in a 1–1 draw against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

International career

Chong played youth international football for the Netherlands at under-15, under-16, under-17, under-19, under-20 and under-21 levels. He represented the under-17 national team at the 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship and scored the only goal in the quarter-final victory against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. In June 2021, Chong accepted a call-up to the Curaçao national team for their

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's association football, soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean regions organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was ...

preliminary squad. However, he was not included in the final squad, which subsequently withdrew from the tournament due to an outbreak of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Career statistics

Honours

Club Brugge *

: 2020–21 Individual *UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament:

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

* Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year: 2017–18 * Denzil Haroun Reserve Player of the Year: 2018–19 *

Premier League 2 The Professional Development League is a system of Football in England, English youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Th ...

Player of the Month: December 2019

References

External links

Profile
at the Luton Town F.C. website
Profile
at the Royal Dutch Football Association website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chong, Tahith 1999 births Living people Footballers from Willemstad Curaçao men's footballers Dutch men's footballers Men's association football wingers Manchester United F.C. players SV Werder Bremen players Club Brugge KV players Birmingham City F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Premier League players Bundesliga players Belgian Pro League players English Football League players Netherlands men's youth international footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Dutch people of Chinese descent Dutch people of Curaçao descent Curaçao people of Chinese descent Sportspeople of Chinese descent Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany 21st-century Dutch sportsmen