Dušan Tadić explains why he left Southampton for Ajax | OneFootball

Dušan Tadić had a reputation at Southampton for being so full of potential, but that potential never fully blossomed.

That is until the Serbian joined Ajax this past summer for a modest price of just over €11m.

Since then, the 30-year-old has been one of their most prolific threats, scoring 34 goals and adding 22 assists in 53 games in all competitions – a better stat line than he managed to put up in 162 games over four years at Southampton (24 goals, 35 assists).

Now, ahead of Wednesday’s vital Champions League semi-final second leg, he’s explained why he made the move to the Eredivisie this past summer.

“I left the Premier League because I got kicked all the time. If you don’t play for one of the top six teams, you cannot dominate games. You spend a lot of time without the ball.

“In the Premier League, it’s hard because you don’t get much protection, it seems to be 80 per cent for the defender and 20 per cent for the attacker.

“It’s much different if you play in Europe, you are protected more and I’ve loved playing for Ajax. We look to dominate against every team we play.”

Ajax won the KNVB Cup final over the weekend and lead PSV on goal difference alone with two matches remaining in Eredivisie play.