Mitchell Dijks Admits Weight Gain and Career Gamble
Mitchell Dijks doesn’t bother with the usual football clichés. Live on ESPN’s Transfer Deadline Show, the 33-year-old wing-back calmly admitted what most players would bury deep: he let himself go. Badly.
“I was testing my fitness. But that didn't quite go well,” Dijks said, almost laughing at himself. “I weighed 104 kilos. When I'm fit, I normally weigh 92 kilos. There were quite a few kilos on me.”
The studio froze for a moment. Presenter Milan van Dongen stared at him, convinced he was being pranked. A professional full-back, once of Ajax, Vitesse and Fortuna Sittard, tipping the scales at 104 kilos?
“No, it's serious. I really was quite chubby,” Dijks replied, leaving no room for doubt.
Vietnam, low intensity and good pasta
His weight gain came during his spell at Nam Dinh FC in Vietnam, a move that already raised eyebrows when it happened. Hans Kraay junior wanted to know what exactly had gone on there.
“The intensity there is all a bit lower,” Dijks explained. “But you just eat good pasta there. And then during matches you only run seven kilometres.”
Seven kilometres. For a modern wing-back, that number says plenty. The image is clear: less intensity, plenty of food, and a defender whose body quietly drifted far from top-level condition.
The honesty was disarming. The reaction online was anything but gentle.
On X, one user summed up the mood bluntly: “Hilarious, man, a player throwing away his own career.” The line bounced around social media, attached to clips of Dijks’ confession and photos from earlier in his career, when he cut a very different figure rampaging up and down the flank.
De Telegraaf reporter Jeroen Kapteijns struck a more measured note, but still questioned the timing. “It's honest and sincere,” he wrote, “but whether this is the wisest interview when you're looking for a club now?”
Brutal honesty, uncertain future
Because Dijks is indeed without a club. At 33, he’s in the stage of his career where every decision, every quote, every appearance can shape the final years of his journey in the game.
Most free agents polish their image, talk about “staying fit” and “waiting for the right project.” Dijks chose to talk about pasta, low intensity and being “quite chubby.”
It is a gamble. Clubs want reliability, professionalism, proof that a player can still live the life required at the top. On the other hand, the market is full of rehearsed answers and media-trained faces. A player who openly admits his mistakes and doesn’t hide behind excuses might just intrigue someone.
What is clear: he isn’t done. Dijks is openly chasing another adventure, and he’s looking east again. A return to the Netherlands is not a must for him; he’s ready for another move in Asia.
The question now is simple and ruthless. Will a club out there see past the 104 kilos and hear a veteran defender ready to put things right, or will this brutally honest interview be the moment that quietly closes a door?
