JORDY Clasie spoke of his emotion after being given a spine-tingling reception at Feyenoord last night.

A hero’s welcome was offered to the midfielder at a packed De Kuip stadium, as he returned a little over a week after moving to Saints from the Dutch club.

Television pictures appeared to show Clasie wiping his eyes during the warm-up, while he was given a phenomenal reception from the crowd before kick-off.

The 24-year-old, who had already received a huge cheer when his name was read out, was then the subject of a ceremony in the centre of the pitch.

In front of a crowd approaching 50,000, Clasie was brought out and presented with a montage of photos from his time with the club, while a message of thanks to him was displayed on the advertising boards around the ground.

Graziano Pelle, also returning to his former side, was afforded the same honour.

Clasie told the Daily Echo after the match: “I think the people they know me, they know that I’m an emotional guy. On this moment, it’s amazing for me that I can say goodbye in this stadium.”

He added: “I played 15 years at Feyenoord and growing up here – that is my club.

“For me it was a good day and a good day to say goodbye to the fans and the people here, and now I’m very happy that the day is finished and I can focus everything on Southampton. I play now for Southampton and this is now my club.”

Clasie enjoyed a winning return to Feyenoord, and he was pleased with what was an accomplished team performance.

“I think in the first 15 minutes we have to score maybe two or three times,” he said.

“That’s so important in a game, whether you score first, then it’s directly let’s finish the game.

“Now we score one time, I think 30, 35 minutes and after that I think we are better, we are stronger and that’s typical Dutch – they want to play only football, football, football, but in England it’s also power, football, and that’s why we are stronger than them I think.”

Clasie certainly appeared to slot seamlessly into the side, and the man who was brought in to replace Morgan Schneiderlin said he is already starting to feel a sense of comfort in the team.

“Yes, last week I learned the players more than I know them before and this week was for me important,” he said.

“We had good training this week for the pre-season and I think we have a good group and I hope that we can play like this today against Vitesse in the Europa League.”