 Like his brother, De Guzmán started his youth career at North Scarborough Soccer Club in Canada, training six times a week to improve his skills.Julian left Canada to join Olympique Marseille's youth academy and two years later, at the age of 12, Jonathan followed him to Europe, joining the Feyenoord youth academy in the Netherlands.Upon his arrival in Rotterdam, de Guzmán was taken in to the home of an employee of the club; he later stated, "I was basically her son for three years."