The 24-year-old sealed a £23.6 million move from Ajax to Merseyside in June after helping the Eredivisie giants win three successive league titles from 2011-14.
Klaassen was quick to make an impression on the Goodison Park faithful, with his near-post run allowing Wayne Rooney to head in the winner against Stoke.
The midfielder, who scored 55 goals in 181 games for Ajax, was captain for the past two campaigns and led the team out in last May's Europa League final.
While Ronald Koeman’s squad isn’t short of skippers – with Wales captain Ashley Williams, Republic of Ireland captain Seamus Coleman and former England captain Rooney on hand to assist current Everton armband-wearer Phil Jagielka – Klaassen insists that he will be looking to show his leadership qualities on the pitch as well.
Speaking to FourFourTwo, he says: “It was a huge honour to become the captain at Ajax… and in the end I want to do the same here, but I’ve got to settle in first.
“Before the [Europa League] final, I stood on the pitch an hour-and-a-half before kick-off and the stadium was full of Ajax fans singing. I thought, ‘This is something special’. Sure, we wanted to win, but I was proud to be captain of that team.
It was a huge honour to become the captain at Ajax… and in the end I want to do the same here, but I’ve got to settle in first
“It was my third or fourth year in the first team and I was already one of the most experienced members, because when you’re 23 or 24 you normally leave Ajax to go abroad. The average age is higher here and there are more leaders. This side doesn’t have the same need as Ajax – here you have got a lot of different captains.”
Read the full interview with Davy Klaassen in the October 2017 issue of FourFourTwo magazine. A new signings special, we also chat to Bernardo Silva about his switch to Manchester City and look at how Romelu Lukaku, Alexandre Lacazette, Alvaro Morata and Mohamed Salah will fare following their big-money transfers to the Premier League. Plus, we reveal the 25 greatest Champions League games ever, meet the FA Cup’s youngest manager who set up a football club following the London riots, recall Derby’s disastrous 2007/08 campaign, go One-on-One with Luis Garcia, learn about the science behind team chemistry and – in the first of a new interview format – hear the incredible story of Rochdale midfielder Joe Thompson, who has battled back from cancer twice. Order a copy today here, and then become a subscriber!
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