As part of the Premier League's Places for Players initiative, City's Dutch midfielder met a group of young people in a 'Dragons Den' style setting and spoke to them about his experiences as a successful businessman.

De Jong runs a successful car company in Germany which has links in Holland and Abu Dhabi and he met 30 students from schools all over Greater Manchester as part of City in the Community's Enterprise City scheme.

Enterprise City aims to use the model of Manchester City and the City of Manchester Stadium to teach young people about business and enterprise - each year the project works with over 1500 young people who all have the chance to gain an accredited qualification.

The young people involved in the day were asked to come up with a new idea for the football club to launch and presented their ideas to a 'Dragon's Den'-style panel of judges made up of the City star and representatives from different departments of the club.

De Jong said: "I really enjoyed the afternoon, I was very impressed with the way the kids put their plans down on paper and explained their ideas.

"It's great to see that even at a young age they are thinking about what they can do later in life, everyone needs to plan for their future and the kids that I met are going to do well if they carry on in the way they have started."

Enterprise City is supported by the Premier League/PFA Community Fund, Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, Greater Manchester Challenge, Manchester City Council and Tameside Borough Council.