One of Liverpool’s reported summer transfer targets has now been on the end of a scathing public rebuke from his manager.
Arne Slot has seemingly been eager to try and entice compatriot Teun Koopmeiners to Anfield, although Fabrizio Romano claimed last week that Juventus have lodged an official bid for the 26-year-old, with whom personal terms had already been agreed.
In an explosive interview with Italian outlet L’Eco di Bergamo (via The Standard), Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini has let rip at the £45m-rated player after he skipped training in an apparent attempt to force a move away from the Europa League winners.
Follow Empire of the Kop on Instagram (@empireofthekop) HERE
The 66-year-old fumed: “The situation with him was going very well until last week, then the player decided to go to Juventus. He already has an agreement, he feels stressed and has decided not to play or train with us anymore.
“With this attitude he cannot be useful to the team, nor to his teammates. The club therefore has taken a very firm line, because we feel blackmailed by this situation. It’s different from the other times in which Atalanta has sold valuable players to bigger teams.
“I’m already ready [for the new campaign], on the starting blocks, and I wouldn’t want to have to drag along those who are still celebrating last season. We are now in a much more difficult situation than we could have foreseen.”
Players going AWOL to try and force a transfer is nothing new in football, but we’re struggling to recall previous instances which provoked such an unrestrained public admonishment from the manager of a rebel.
Although Liverpool had never seemed likely to snap up Koopmeiners from the moment that terms were agreed with Juventus, the Dutchman’s recent actions surely represent the final nail in the coffin as regards any potential interest from Anfield.
If Slot had been keen on the 26-year-old before, with the duo having previously worked together at AZ Alkmaar, that mightn’t be the case any longer after the midfielder’s refusal to train with his current club.
If a player is going to those lengths to engineer a transfer now, there’s every chance that they’ll try to pull a similar stunt the next time they want a move, and frankly that glaring lack of loyalty is something the Reds should swerve without a second thought.
In any case, it looks increasingly likely that Liverpool will strengthen their midfield by snapping up Martin Zubimendi from Real Sociedad. Should that prospective deal materialise, we can’t envisage too many supporters being bothered about what happens next with Koopmeiners after his recent antics.
EOTK Close-up with John Welsh: ‘a local lad who lived his dream’ and Slot’s LFC predictions