Ajax midfielder Davy Klaassen has once again discussed how he endured something of a ‘culture shock’ during his time on Merseyside.
The Dutch midfielder joined Everton in a £24.3m deal from Ajax in July 2017 as part of a major rebuild by the Toffees that summer.
He arrived at Goodison Park to much fanfare, with many hoping he could be a bit hit at the club after shining in both the Eredivisie and Europe for the Dutch giants.
That did not happen, though, with Everton’s over recruitment of number tens meaning there was no place in the team for Klaassen.
He would go on to make just 16 appearances for the club in total before being sold to Werder Bremen in July 2018.
He’s regularly spoken about the miserable experience at Everton since and how his time abroad have given him plenty of lessons to use at Ajax, whom he re-signed for in October 2020, and he’s done so again in a chat with De Telegraaf.
“First of all, abroad, you don’t have all your friends and family around you,” he told them.
“To what extent soccer changes depends on club and league. At Everton, I really suffered from culture shock. If it’s not going well there, they hoof the ball forward.
“Playing for prizes also brings a certain mentality. At Bayern Munich, where teammates (Gravenberch and Mazraoui, ed.) are linked to, it is comparable to Ajax, because here they also play for prizes with attacking, neat soccer.
“The level is even higher. Such clubs can spend money faster for new players. It won’t be easy, but they have shown that they can compete at the highest level.”
