Teun Koopmeiners may have played his last match in the AZ uniform on Thursday evening. After the 2-1 win over Celtic, a victory that was not enough to advance to the Europa League group stage, the captain-cum-midfielder insinuated that there is a chance he could sign with Atalanta soon. “Hopefully the hammer will go down soon,” he told the in the catacombs of the AFAS Stadium General Newspaper.
“It is not unknown that things are now going on around me”, Koopmeiners replied afterwards to the question of ESPN whether he saw himself playing with AZ in the Conference League group stage. “I hope it continues, I can say that very honestly. I think we are now at a point where the clubs can get out.”
Teun Koopmeiners does not seem to be playing for AZ for long. “I think we are now at a point where the clubs can come out” pic.twitter.com/ocspYgWist
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) August 26, 2021
“I didn’t think about that at all tonight, let that be clear, but those are things that do matter for me personally. I hope it continues. Ultimately, all parties must be able to benefit from this and be satisfied. I think we’ve reached that point.” Koopmeiners was also associated with Arsenal, AS Roma, Napoli and Stade Rennes this transfer window. With Atalanta, he now seems to have finally got his desired transfer.
AZ coach Pascal Jansen says he ‘really did not know’ whether Koopmeiners will make a transfer. “Not really. Teun has become an important player for us in recent years, that’s a fact. He has developed into a fantastic player for us. If Teun leaves, we could still see if we should do something on the transfer market”, he was told by the General Newspaper quoted.
In the Eredivisie, Koopmeiners, 23, had to make do with a place on the bench this season, but in the matches against Celtic the midfielder was in the starting lineup twice. It is not obvious that he will play in the away game against sc Heerenveen on Sunday. Two days later, the summer transfer market closes its doors.