It’s been a positive week for Ajax. First, there was the weekend 5-0 home hammering of Fortuna Sittard, and now a former favourite of the club has returned to Amsterdam.
Earlier this week, youth product Davy Klaassen returned to the Dutch capital for a third spell with the club. The experienced midfielder has signed a three-year deal with the Netherlands giants.
A product of the club
Klaassen has previously enjoyed two spells with the country’s most successful club. The midfielder started his football career at the club, joining the youth ranks in 2004 from HSV Wasmeer.
During his time in the club’s youth system, Klaassen helped his team to win the domestic title.
He was also part of the team that finished as a runner-up in the prestigious NEXTGEN Series, as his under-19 team suffered a penalty shootout defeat against Inter in the final of the competition.
Klaassen made his first-team debut for Ajax in the Champions League as an 85th-minute substitute against Lyon on 22nd November 2011.
He made his first appearance in the Dutch top flight just five days later, scoring after less than a minute against NEC after coming off the bench.
Klaassen went on to play for Ajax until 2017, making 181 appearances in all competitions and scoring a highly respectable 55 goals in his first spell with the club.
The midfielder enjoyed a trophy-laden first period with the Amsterdam club.
He helped the team to win the Eredivisie title on three occasions and the KNVB Cup once, as well as captaining the team in the Europa League final against Manchester United in season 2016/17, as they went down to a 2-0 defeat.
A spell abroad and a return to Ajax for a second spell
After his impressive displays for Ajax, Klaassen was seen as hot property in the summer of 2017. There was reported interest from many European clubs.
However, ambitious Premier League outfit Everton won the race for his signature. The Merseyside club paid a reported fee of around £23.6m to sign the midfielder, who signed a five-year deal with the men from Merseyside.
Things didn’t quite work out for Klaassen with the Toffees. The club’s recruitment that summer meant that three players, including Klaassen, were competing for just one spot in the starting line-up.
The Dutchman came up against England great Wayne Rooney and also the club’s record signing Gylfi Sigurdsson for game time.
Everton also went through a series of managerial changes, which didn’t help Klaassen’s chances of success with the club.
He fell out of favour and ended up making just 16 appearances for the Toffees in the 2017/18 season.
Just a year after joining the Toffees, Klaassen was on the move again. This time, he headed to Germany to play for Bundesliga club Werder Bremen in a deal worth just £12m.
Klaassen looked far more suited to the Bundesliga and stayed with Werder for two seasons, making 81 appearances in all competitions while scoring 16 goals.
However, at the start of season 2020/21, having played four games for Werder, the midfielder returned to Ajax for a fee similar to the one which took him to Germany.
During this second period, Klaassen helped the Dutch giants to win the Eredivisie on two occasions. He scored 37 goals in 140 appearances until the summer of 2023, when he moved to Italian giants Inter on a free transfer.
The Amsterdam club allowed Klaassen to leave on a free transfer as a sign of the respect the club had for the midfielder.
Klaassen made 18 appearances for the Nerazzurri in season 2023/24, as the men from Milan won the Scudetto. However, he played a bit part role for Simone Inzaghi’s team.
Once again, just over a year after leaving Ajax, he was back again, joining the club for a third spell on 17th September 2024. The midfielder signed a one-year contract with the Amsterdammers.
The signing was a no-brainer for Ajax
Resigning Klaassen on a free transfer was a no-brainer for the club from the capital. He has enjoyed the best periods of his career at Ajax, having only really enjoyed slight success elsewhere in a short period at Werder.
To sign a player with the experience of Klaassen on a free transfer is a highly shrewd move. He knows the club inside out by now because of his previous spells in Amsterdam.
This is a low-risk signing, and the midfielder will offer head coach Francesco Farioli another experienced option in the centre of the pitch.
If his other spells with the club are anything to go by, Klaassen should prove to be a valuable addition to an Ajax squad very much in transition after the debacle of season 2023/24.
Will Davy Klaassen be able to replicate the form of his previous two spells with Ajax?