Everton fans will be harbouring hopes of a first European campaign in nine years by the end of the current Premier League season – but one former player is currently massively struggling in continental football in the current campaign.
Everton’s heroic 1-0 win over Manchester United in the Premier League on Monday moved the Toffees to within three points of the Champions League spots, and given the past few years of relegation woes, there is renewed optimism that Everton can finally record a top-half finish for the first time since 2021.
A place in European football will always be a superb objective to achieve, with many of Everton’s current crop having yet to play in Europe with the club – only Jordan Pickford, Michael Keane, Seamus Coleman and Idrissa Gueye have done so.
However, one former star is having a nightmare on the continent, with Davy Klaassen being the captain of the worst side in the Champions League with Ajax rooted to the bottom of the table.
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Davy Klaassen’s Champions League campaign is going horrendously
Ajax were drawn in pot three for the Champions League league phase, expecting to at least finish above the elimination zone and garner a play-off spot.
However, it’s really not gone to plan under former Everton defender John Heitinga, who was sacked at the start of the month, and caretaker Fred Grim really hasn’t improved that standing.
An opening day loss to Inter Milan was somewhat expected in a 2-0 defeat, but Ajax were then thumped 4-0 by Marseille in the south of France.
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“I really hope I can earn the opportunity to get back into European football here at Everton.”
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That quickly turned even more south with a 5-1 defeat to Chelsea, and now two more defeats have occurred this month with a 3-0 home loss to Galatasaray and a 2-0 home defeat to Benfica on Wednesday.
Klaassen has started in four of those, taking the captain’s armband in each one, and the Dutchman only has an average rating of 6.32 across the five fixtures – including an abysmal 5.5 rating against Marseille, according to Sofascore.
In terms of Everton’s signings in the Farhad Moshiri era, the midfielder is always a major sticking point.
Davy Klaassen was one of Farhad Moshiri’s worst signings
Davy Klaassen joined Everton from Ajax in 2017 at the age of just 24, having scored 20 goals in all competitions in his final season for the Amsterdam-based outfit.
Having captained them to the Europa League final against Manchester United, a lot was expected of the Netherlands international at Goodison Park.
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But Klaassen’s stint on Merseyside was way below par, having fallen out of favour with Marco Silva and Sam Allardyce after compatriot Ronald Koeman was sacked.
He failed to make a single Premier League appearance from late September to March, admitting that he failed to adapt to the Premier League’s demands.
At £23million, he was sold just over a year after he joined for £12million to Werder Bremen, and was one of many transfers to have gone awry under British-Iranian businessman Farhad Moshiri.
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