Koeman was the Everton manager when the Premier League club spent £23m on an Ajax captain in the summer of 2017.
Ronald Koeman has slammed former employers Everton for their treatment of his Dutch international midfielder Davy Klaassen, as reported by the Liverpool Echo.
After scoring 20 goals in 2016/17 and inspiring Ajax to the Europa League title, big things were expected of Klaassen when he arrived at Goodison Park two years ago for a fee of around £23 million (BBC).
But Klaassen’s ill-fated Everton career was pretty much over as soon as compatriot Koeman was sacked just two months into the 2017/18 campaign.
By the time the midfielder was sold to Werder Bremen at a £12 million loss last July, he had made just three Premier League starts and nine appearances overall in England’s top flight.
And Koeman believes that Klaassen, who has since rebuilt his reputation during an excellent debut season in Germany, was simply not given the time he needed to adapt to life on British shores.
“It was difficult for him at Everton. Most of the time – and I heard those stories as well – people say that you need a year to settle in the Premier League. You cannot say after one month, two months ‘he is not good enough’,” Koeman said.
“Some players need adaptation time. You need that time. If they come to the Premier League, it is different – the intensity, the decisions by the referees.”
Koeman is now the coach of the Dutch international team and he omitted Klaassen from his 23 man squad for the Nations League semi-final clash against England on Tuesday.
The former Everton boss has a wealth of midfield options, including Frenke de Jong, Gini Wijnaldum, Donny Van de Beek and Atalanta enforcer Martin de Roon.
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