Sam Allardyce shared that neither himself or Everton know why Daavy Klaasen failed to join Napoli in January.
The Toffees manager revealed he thought the attacking midfielder would have jumped at the chance to join the Italian giants as he was keen to play regular football, and admitted he was unsure what stopped Klaasen leaving.
“‘Davy wants to play football, but whether he got the full story I don’t know, because I wasn’t involved with it,” said Allardyce, as quoted
by the Daily Mail.
“I wasn’t involved in the negotiation because I was too busy with my players getting ready for the game.
“So you’d have to speak to his agent really, and find out why it didn’t happen, because I’m not sure as a football club we know.
“It was all down to the agent and Napoli really, that was the bottom line, it was nothing to do with us.”
The 24-year-old only joined Everton in the summer, signing from Ajax for a fee of £24million.
However, Klaasen has found his opportunities limited at the club, making only 13 appearances this season.
OPINION
While Allardyce probably doesn’t truly know why Klaasen didn’t leave to join Napoli, he shouldn’t be publicly admitting that. Everton need to look like they know what is going on with all their players, even ones they’re expecting to leave the club. Allardyce does admit in the same interview, that due to the midfielder’s professional attitude he’ll still be involved with the first-team, however it’s not exactly reassuring to hear your manager question while you’re still here. Hopefully, the 24-year-old does get an opportunity under Allardyce, as despite failing to impress so far, Klaasen is a player who could excel in the Premier League.