Mitchell Dijks is no longer the person he was at the beginning of his career at Ajax. The Fortuna Sittard left-back sought a way out through women to deal with the professional pressure put on him, but now, life is a lot calmer.
Speaking with Voetbal International, the now 31-year-old defender looked back on those difficult years in his development.
“Football players are always on a pedestal. I made my debut at Ajax when I was eighteen, and that also comes with pressure.”
“I was still a child, but suddenly I was in full arenas. (…) If you pass the ball wrong, you hear whistles. That does something to a person.”
To distract himself, he started to venture into the nightlife and Amsterdam seemingly gave him what he was searching for.
“I was looking for an escape and found it in women, going out. Now I’m older and I don’t feel that pressure anymore. I’ve found much more peace for myself. And now I enjoy going home on Saturday night.”
The image of the player who is always busy with women is now outdated, says Dijks. “That’s completely wrong. People have a prejudice about me, and I contributed to that myself.”
The fact is that the Fortuna full-back, who previously played for Bologna in Italy, is now better able to give pressure a place. What if he had been able to do that at the start of his career? “Then I would have been a completely different player at Ajax,” Dijks thinks.
