Sam Allardyce believes Davy Klaassen made a flawed decision to stay at Everton.
The midfielder last featured for the Blues in a Europa League dead rubber with Apollon Limassol and has not made a Premier League appearance since October.
A season-long loan with Napoli appeared to offer Klaassen an escape from a disappointing Goodison Park career following last summer’s arrival from Ajax.
But despite interest from the Serie A giants as well as Fenerbahce last month, the 24-year-old opted to remain with Everton despite his limited first-team chances.
Although Allardyce cannot fault Klaassen’s professionalism, he has questioned the player’s decision to not pursue regular playing opportunities elsewhere.
“He’s a super professional and a super lad, and he comes in and tries his best in training on every occasion,” said Allardyce.
“‘I just think the opportunity for him to go out on loan was missed by everybody that wanted a player of his calibre. I’d have thought he’d go back to Europe somewhere.
“Because generally that’s what happens with European players, they can easily to get into Europe because the reputation they have got there.
“But it didn’t happen. I don’t know the exact reason why it didn’t happen.
“I am not actually sure of the full detail of it, but it didn’t seem the normal sort of problem to stop a transfer going through.
“But obviously that happened and he’s still here.”
An impasse over image rights was thought to be behind Klaassen’s move to the Stadio San Paulo collapsing, which Allardyce described as the ‘weirdest situation’.
And the Everton manager insists that the Holland international’s parent club remain at a loss as to why the loan switch failed to materialise.
He added: “Apparently that’s the norm at that club (Napoli), whatever they do as a football club that their image rights are, I don’t know the technical details.
“But whether their image rights are not validated or taken are over by club, I don’t know.
“I wasn’t involved in the negotiation because I was too busy with my players getting ready for the game.
“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.”