Jordy Clasie was a good footballer for Feyenoord, he showed a good level for the Netherlands too, and he seems a nice guy who is very close to his family.
But, and there’s no getting away from this, Southampton signing him has been an absolute disaster. Unable to get any prominence with the Premier League club, Clasie was sent on loan to Club Brugge last season.
It was always unlikely to turn into a permanent move, given the Belgian club’s finances, but it was expected that Clasie would stick out like a sore thumb, that his level would be far above that of many of his teammates and opponents.
That didn’t happen.
At the most crucial part of the season, the play-offs (Belgian’s top league splits at the end of the season to decide the winners and Euro places), Clasie didn’t get off the bench for six of the nine matches, and only accumulated just over an hour in the other three.
Now he’s back at Southampton.
Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reports that whilst former club Feyenoord would like to sign him back, they’re facing issues with the Saints.
Southampton are said to want to get back a ‘substantial part’ of the €15m they paid for Clasie, and Feyenoord have no interest in providing that.
Clasie only wants the Dutch club, it’s explained, and they’ll continue to work for a loan deal.
The transfer has been a disaster so far, so it sounds like Southampton are being somewhat unreasonable.
