Tjaronn Inteff Chefren Chery (born 4 June 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Israeli club Maccabi Haifa. Born in the Netherlands, he represents the Suriname national team.
Early life
Chery was born in the Netherlands and is of Surinamese descent. However, when he was three, his father left his wife and they have not seen him since. Because of this, his mother raised him and his two brothers, Ronny and Tjarck, whom Tjaronn considers his heroes.
Club career
Twente
Before signing a youth contract with FC Twente, Chery played for amateur side U.D.I. Enschede until he left for Twente when he was fourteen in 2002. A fantastic season with the A-Juniors (highest youth level) culminated in winning the national championship in 2007. That year, he played 21 matches and scored 2 goals. Chery was mainly used as a substitute, playing in the same position as Qays Shayesteh.
On 16 January 2008, first team coach Fred Rutten picked Chery for the main squad. On 5 May 2008, Chery won the national reserves championship, captaining his team to the victory. That meant that he received the winner's plate. For his performance, Chery was rewarded with his first professional contract at Twente, keeping him until 2011.
On 26 October 2008, Chery made his professional debut in the Eredivisie, substituting Marko Arnautović in extra time in the away match against Vitesse. At the time he entered the pitch, the score was 0–2 to Twente which the match also ended. This turns out to be his only appearance for the club. After this, Chery was loaned out to Cambuur for the rest of the 2008–09 season. Chery then made his Cambuur debut on 16 January 2009, where he started and played the whole game, in a 1–0 win over Haarlem. Chery played a role in a match against Eindhoven on 1 May 2009 when he set up two goals, in a 3–1 win. Chery finished the season at Cambuur, making fifteen appearances.
In the 2009–10 season, Chery was loaned out again when he signed for RBC Roosendaal on a season long loan deal. Chery made his RBC Roosendaal debut, in the opening game of the season, where he set up one of the goals, in a 4–0 win over Emmen. Since making his RBC Roosendaal debut, Chery established himself in the first team at the club and it wasn't until on 8 March 2010 when Chery scored his first goal for the club, in a 1–1 draw against Emmen in their second meeting of the season. Chery went on to finish the season, making thirty–two appearances and scoring once in all competitions. During his time at Twente, Chery said that he suffered from a lot of setbacks; these were the reasons that he struggled to make a breakthrough there.
Emmen
Ahead of the 2010–11 season, Chery left Twente when he signed for Emmen on 29 July 2010.
Two days later, Chery played his first Emmen match in a friendly match against his former club, Twente, which saw Emmen win 2–1. Chery made his league debut for Emmen in the opening game of the season, where he made his first start and played the whole game, in a 3–0 loss against PEC Zwolle. It wasn't until on 27 August 2010 when he scored his first Emmen goal, in a 3–2 loss against MVV Maastricht and scored his second goal for the club on 17 September 2010, in a 3–1 loss against Helmond Sport. Chery then scored two more goals for the club by the end of 2010 and finished the first half of the season, making sixteen appearances and scoring four times in the league.
At the start of year 2011, Chery then scored two goals in two matches between 14 January 2011 and 17 January 2011 against Zwolle and Dordrecht. It wasn't until on 25 February 2011 when he scored twice, in a 6–0 win over AGOVV, followed up by scoring in the next game, with a 3–1 win over RBC Roosendaal. At the end of the season, Chery finished his first season, making thirty–four appearances and scoring ten times in all competitions. For his performance, Chery was awarded achievements throughout the 2010–11 season, including the club's player of the year.
ADO Den Haag
Chery's performance at Emmen attracted interests from clubs around Netherlands. Among interested was Eredivisie side ADO Den Haag, who made a bid for him in April. Eventually, Emmen accepted a bid for him and on 6 June 2011, Chery signed for ADO Den Haag for an undisclosed fee and signing a two–year contract, with an option of extending for two years.