Southampton Opinion: Jordy Clasie’s departure could work well for the Saints
According to the Daily Mail, Dutch midfielder Jordy Clasie has joined Eredivisie side AZ Alkmaar on a permanent four-year deal after his contract at Southampton was terminated.
Clasie desperately wanted to secure a permanent move back to his homeland in a bid to resurrect his faltering career and his contract at St. Mary’s was dissolved after the player’s representatives held talks with the Saints over his future. (h/t Daily Mail)
The 28-year-old, who was one of the stars of the Netherlands side that finished third at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, earned a move to the Premier League with Southampton back in the summer of 2015.
Ronald Koeman was the man in charge at that time when the Saints splashed a fee of around £8million to bring the highly-rated Dutch sensation from Feyenoord to the English south coast.
Clasie arrived at St.Mary’s with a lot of expectations but what followed wasn’t at all impressive, to say the least.
Brought in as a replacement for Morgan Schneiderlin, who also departed for Man United that summer, Clasie walked through the door as a promising young talent and a full-fledged Dutch international, having racked up impressive numbers over the course of his four seasons at Feyenoord.
However, what followed was absolutely disastrous, not only for Clasie but also for Southampton.
The midfielder not only drew a complete blank in terms of goals and assists in the Premier League in his debut season but he also failed to replicate the same kind of form that had earned him plaudits back in his earlier days at Feyenoord.
Clasie’s diminutive 5ft. 7-inch frame apparently lacked the toughness to compete with more physically imposing opposition in the Premier League and he never really managed to get to grips with the tempo of the English game.
The 28-year-old was largely used as a squad player in the 2016-17 season before loan spells with Clube Brugge and Feyenoord in the subsequent campaigns brought an end to his Southampton career.
Clasie scored twice in 49 appearances for the Saints and his ill-fated spell in the Premier League has finally come to an end.
Interestingly, this move is likely to work in favour of all parties involved. Although Southampton never got a chance to recoup any fraction of the money that they had spent to bring Clasie to the club, the Saints should be relieved to get a flop off their books permanently, nevertheless.
To put things into perspective, the departure of Clasie can be seen as a step in the right direction as far as Southampton are concerned, given that the club is finally beginning to make a call on the future of some of the out-of-favour big-money flops.
With Hasenhuttl making his intentions very clear that he is not going to stick around with the underperforming stars in the squad, the Saints have apparently adopted a sell-before-you-buy strategy, as evident from the sidelining of several established players like Cedric Soares, Wesley Hoedt, Charlie Austin, Shane Long and a few others.
Clasie’s departure is only the first step towards getting rid of the deadwood in the squad, though, with Southampton also under pressure to make a call on the future of Sofiane Boufal, Mohamed Elyounoussi and Guido Carrillo.
All the aforementioned players arrived at St. Mary’s for significantly large amounts of money as compared to the Dutchman but neither of them has been able to justify their massive price tags.
Carrillo and Boufal were a part of the club’s loan army last season, whilst Elyounoussi’s future also looks to be in doubt after a disappointing debut campaign.
To Read More Southampton News, Click Here:- Latest Southampton News
Hasenhuttl has already taken significant strides towards completing a youthful overhaul of his squad with the acquisition of Che Adams and Moussa Djenepo this summer and the departure of Clasie should free up some valuable space for more new arrivals to come through the door.