Things have finally started to go out of the shadow, as Atalanta and Juventus met face-to-face to discuss Teun Koopmeiners’ future. According to Sportitalia journalist Alfredo Pedulla, the clubs held discussions on Sunday evening to smooth things over after the Turin side’s behind-the-back approach infuriated the Bergamo powerbrokers.
Juventus went behind Atalanta’s back to open a dialogue with Koopmeiners over a potential switch to the Allianz Stadium. As recently confirmed by Gian Piero Gasperini, the Dutch midfielder said ‘yes’ to Bianconeri’s proposal about a week ago and has since refused to train with the team.
Such behavior from Juventus and the player hasn’t gone well with Atalanta. However, Gasperini’s men know better than to try and hold an unhappy player. As such, they’ve reluctantly entered talks with the record-time Serie A champions, reiterating their ambition to make no less than €60 million from Koopmeiners’ inevitable sale.
Therefore, Juventus must uplift their opening bid worth €50m plus €5m in add-ons to close the gap and take the ex-AZ Alkmaar man to Turin. That would, in turn, provide Atalanta with enough spending power to convince Celtic to let 23-year-old Matt O’Riley complete his move to the Gewiss Stadium at long last.
Atalanta have already seen four offers for the highly-rated midfielder turned down by the Hoops. But, if Juventus meet their requests, they could easily adhere to Celtic’s €28m asking price. Since the initial meeting went smoothly, there’s a feeling negotiations may last much shorter than expected.
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