Southampton: Midfielder Jordy Clasie rejoins Feyenoord on-loan
By Marc Walker
Southampton midfielder Jordy Clasie has rejoined former club Feyenoord on a season-long loan deal after struggling to settle in England.
The 27-year-old has fallen out of favour at St Mary’s and it appears that he does not feature in Mark Hughes’ long-term plans at Southampton.
He made 25 appearances on-loan at Belgian outfit Club Brugge during the last campaign but has now returned to the club where he started his career.
Clasie joined Saints for around £13.5m in the summer of 2015 as Ronald Koeman prepared his side for Europa League qualifiers and an eventual sixth placed finish in the Premier League.
He played 49 times under both Koeman and Claude Puel but hasn’t made an appearance for the club for over a year with midfield areas highly competitive.
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Moving back to the his homeland to play for Feyenoord at De Kuip could be just what Clasie needs to get his career back on track.
In his last spell with club, he became captain and a vital part of the team. His form back then also saw him regularly called up to the Dutch national squad.
His most recent cap came in September 2016 in a 1-1 draw with Belgium and he will be hoping that playing consistently in the Netherlands can get him recognition again.
Clasie’s area of defensive-midfield is one of the most competitive in the Saints team currently. Each of Mario Lemina, Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, Oriol Romeu and Steven Davis have all played there in recent times.
The club will also be keen to give prominent roles to academy graduates such as Harrison Reed and James Ward-Prowse too who could also be fielded there in 2018/19.
Current Saints boss Mark Hughes has stated recently that fringe players may have to be moved on before more recruits can arrive ahead of the upcoming season too, and Clasie’s move could be just one trigger for more arrivals.
Stuart Armstrong, Angus Gunn, Mohamed Elyounoussi and Jannik Vestergaard have all been purchased this summer and other key areas of the team still need strengthening too.