Why Juve’s pursuit of Koopmeiners is becoming complicated

Juventus could reportedly struggle in their attempts to put the signature of Atalanta midfielder Teun Koopmeiners on paper.

Long before the summer transfer session started, the Old Lady had identified the Dutchman as their primary target to enhance the quality of the squad.

The 26-year-old is coming off a sensational campaign in Bergamo. However, his brilliant displays hardly played in Juve’s favor, as La Dea’s asking price kept rising with every new exploit, till it reached 60 million euros.

For their part, the Bianconeri have already acquired the services of Douglas Luiz and Khephren Thuram in the middle of the park.

Nevertheless, Juventus still consider Thuram as the cherry on top of a new-look midfield department.

But according to Il Corriere dello Sport journalist Filippo Bonsignore, the deal is getting increasingly complicated, especially with Atalanta refusing to drop their price.

The Turin-based giants started with an opening bid worth 40 million, and could raise their offer to 45M. But the gap remains significant. They also tried to offer the services of Matias Soulé and Dean Huijsen but to no avail

The Orobici have already brought in Nicolo Zaniolo as a potential replacement and could be searching for a midfielder with similar characteristics to Koopmeiners. Yet, they don’t intend to offer any discounts on the Netherlands international this summer.

Hence, Juventus will have to remain patient and raise funds by offloading some of their players before retuning with a bid closer to Atalanta’s request, as it appears to be the only way to put the deal over the line.

The Bianconeri already have an agreement with Koopmeiners over personal terms. He would sign a five-year contract that would see him earn 4.5 million euros per season.