Everton were reportedly willing to offer Jordy Clasie and escape route out of Southampton in the summer.
Ronald Koeman knows Jordy Clasie better than most. This is perhaps why the Dutchman believed he could revitalise his struggling compatriot with a summer move to Everton.
According to The Mirror (13th April, page 59), Koeman was keen to bring Clasie to Goodison Park this summer for what would have been another reunion. Everton’s manager got the best out of the tenacious midfielder at Feyenoord, turning him into a Dutch international, before bringing him to the Premier League with Southampton in 2015.
After two seasons on the South Coast beset by fluctuating fitness and form, however, Clasie was handed an escape route from St Mary’s in the summer – but not by Everton.
Instead, the 26-year-old made the rather less glamourous move to Belgian side Club Brugge on a season-long loan. Though if Clasie had hoped he could get his once promising career back on track in a league with a similar style and stature to the Eredivisie, he has been sadly mistaken.
So far, the 17-time Dutch international has not started a single league game for Brugge, instead coming off the bench on just two occasions. And the wait for a full Jupiler League debut looks set to go on with a knee injury keeping Clasie out of this weekend’s game with KV Oostende.
Even when he has been fit enough to start, Clasie has struggled to impose himself in midfield – a problem Southampton fans will be more than familiar with.
It’s difficult to imagine where he would have fit into an Everton midfield boasting Morgan Schneiderlin, Idrissa Gueye, Tom Davies, Mo Besic and Davy Klaassen.
On current form, Clasie might have been sixth placed at best in the pecking order.
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