---
title: "Klaassen claims he “had hope” under Silva – were Everton too hasty in selling him?"
canonical: "https://readeverton.com/klaassen-claims-he-had-hope-under-silva-were-everton-too-hasty-in-selling-him/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Elliott Cuff"
section: "Feature Writers"
published: "2019-09-14T06:00:59Z"
modified: "2019-09-14T06:00:59Z"
---

# Klaassen claims he “had hope” under Silva – were Everton too hasty in selling him?

Davy Klaassen has once again reflected on his Everton career, claiming that he had hoped to be given a chance under Marco Silva.

The Dutchman was brought to Goodison Park in the summer of 2017 from Ajax for £23.6million and was considered a hot prospect, having just captained Ajax to a Europa League final the season prior.

However, after just seven Premier League appearances, Klaassen left last summer for Werder Bremen, costing the German club just £12million for his services.

![Cathrin Mueller/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readeverton.com/readeverton/2019/09/1166051404.jpg)

Klaassen failed to impress when he was given his chances, with the speed and tenacity of the Premier League largely passing the midfielder by.

Now, over 12 months since his departure, the Netherlands international claims that his Everton spell was doomed from the start, although he admitted he did have hope to turn things around. Talking to Spox ([via Sport Witness](https://sportwitness.co.uk/i-actually-hope-player-discusses-disappointment-end-everton-career-just-didnt-fit/)), Klaassen said:

> Actually everything went wrong from the beginning.

> A lot of things happened. I just didn’t fit. I still had a nice year there, got to know nice people, but football wise, of course it wasn’t a happy year.

Marco Silva came in as Everton boss last summer, ending a period of change that saw all of Ronald Koeman, David Unsworth and Sam Allardyce have Klaassen at their disposal.

Silva, alongside newly appointed director of football Marcel Brands, decided to have a clear out at Finch Farm, and Klaassen didn’t make the cut to remain on Merseyside. Klaassen continued saying:

> I actually had hope. A new coach came in the summer break and I thought maybe I would get a chance, but after a few days, I was clearly told, ‘We have too many players, and I trust others’.

> That was a good thing. At least then I knew where I stood and could think about the next step.

### Read Everton Verdict

I’ve always maintained that Klaassen deserved another chance to impress under a new manager. The Dutchman could have potentially taken to Silva’s philosophies and tactics better than he did to Koeman’s, and he could have turned his Everton career around.

There is a lot of mention of “could have” there, but I do think it is a fair point to make. We’ll never know what could have been with Klaassen at Everton, which is a huge shame given how good he was for Ajax.