Mitchell Dijks Opens Up About Fitness Struggles on Transfer Deadline Show

Mitchell Dijks doesn’t bother with the usual footballer clichés. Live on ESPN’s Transfer Deadline Show, the 33-year-old wing-back laid his career bare in a way that stunned the studio – and the internet.

“I was testing my fitness. But that didn't quite go well,” he admitted with a wry smile. “I weighed 104 kilos. When I'm fit, I normally weigh 92 kilos. There were quite a few kilos on me.”

The former Ajax, Vitesse and Fortuna Sittard left-back, currently without a club, was talking about his recent spell at Vietnamese side Nam Dinh FC. What followed sounded less like a polished media line and more like a confession.

Presenter Milan van Dongen initially thought he was being pranked. A professional defender, 12 kilos over his playing weight? Dijks cut him off quickly. “No, it's serious. I really was quite chubby.”

Hans Kraay junior, sitting alongside, leaned in and asked the obvious question: what on earth had he been doing in Vietnam?

Dijks didn’t dress it up. “The intensity there is all a bit lower. But you just eat good pasta there. And then during matches you only run seven kilometres.”

That combination – lower tempo, good food, limited running – told its own story. And once the clip hit social media, the reaction was instant.

“Hilarious, man, a player throwing away his own career,” one user wrote on X, summing up the disbelief and frustration many felt at hearing a seasoned professional talk so casually about drifting out of shape.

De Telegraaf reporter Jeroen Kapteijns struck a different note. He praised the openness, but questioned the timing. “It's honest and sincere, but whether this is the wisest interview when you're looking for a club now?” he wondered aloud.

Because that’s the other side of this. Dijks is on the market. A free agent, 33, with a CV that includes Ajax and years at the top level, now trying to convince sporting directors he’s worth a contract – while openly admitting he let his conditioning slide.

Even so, he isn’t talking about retreat. He’s talking about the next step.

Dijks is eyeing another move abroad, ideally back to Asia. A return to the Netherlands is not a priority. He wants a new adventure, a fresh start, another chance to show he can still operate at a serious level.

The question now is simple and brutal: will any club in Asia bet on a defender who has just told the world exactly how far he let himself go?