According to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, Liverpool are one of the clubs scouting Atalanta star Teun Koopmeiners ahead of the summer transfer window.
The Reds have another massively transformative summer ahead of them with the departure of Jurgen Klopp imminent, and the search for a new manager to succeed the much-loved German will be no easy task for FSG.
The American owners have already begun their rebuild of the backroom staff after it was also revealed everybody at the club currently working with Klopp will also move on in the summer, and so far it has been an extremely positive recruitment drive.
Former sporting director Michael Edwards has been appointed as CEO of Football for Fenway Sports Group with a much more advanced role to help Liverpool remain in a position to compete without Klopp.
AFC Bournemouth’s sporting director Richard Hughes has also been recently recruited to join the Merseyside giants in the same role when he leaves the Cherries in the summer.
Aside from a challenging managerial search and back-room rebuild, Liverpool will be keen to continue to add fresh faces to the next generation of success beyond Klopp’s tenure, and now Fabrizio Romano has revealed who the club has been scouting.
Speaking in his exclusive daily column with Caught Offside, the Italian journalist revealed:
“Juventus are the favourites to sign Teun Koopmeiners, as he has been their top target for a long time, they want him and the relationship with Atalanta is very good,”
“Liverpool have been scouting him but again, a lot will depend on the decision on who will replace Jurgen Klopp as manager – it’s too early to mention Liverpool’s plans without a decision on the manager.”
Should Liverpool sign Teun Koopmeiners?
There is no doubt that Liverpool will need to continue to reinvest in their squad to ensure they can compete with the likes of Manchester City and Arsenal without Klopp, however, it will be difficult to target the right players without the next manager’s philosophy and tactical strengths being considered.
Xabi Alonso, Ruben Amorim and Roberto De Zerbi are all popular names in the media rumour mill that has been churning since Klopp announced his hiatus from football management, all three with very different styles of plays and formations.
As a result, it would seem highly unlikely that any concrete transfer decisions will be made without the input of the future Liverpool boss, despite Koopmeiners often being linked with a move to Merseyside.
The Netherlands native has been a machine in midfield for Serie A giants Atalanta, with West Ham United’s Lucas Paqueta named as one of the most similar players to Koopmeiners over the last 12 months, according to FBref.
Not only that, the 26-year-old whiz ranks in the top 19% of his positional peers across the top five European leagues for aerial duels won, clearances, passes attempted, and progressive passes per 90 minutes played over the last 12 months.
As per SofaScore, the Dutchman boasts strengths in positioning, penalty taking and high pressing, which would certainly be traits that would make him an ideal player in Klopp’s system with similar strengths to many of Liverpool’s current midfield crop, however, it remains to be seen as to whether the next manager will share a similar philosophy.
With that being said, it will be interesting to see whether Liverpool pursue a move for Koopmeiners this summer and as to whether the new manager will be included in that decision.
