It has always been tempting to view Teun Koopmeiners, at least when compared him to some of the other midfielders linked with a summer move to Liverpool, as something of an underwhelming alternative.
Not quite as intriguing as Mason Mount. Not a World Cup winner, like Alexis Mac Allister. And not anywhere near as high-profile as Jude Bellingham.
Atalanta’s 5-2 thrashing of Monza on the final day of the Serie A season last weekend, however, saw Teun Koopmeiners produce the sort of performance that – if it had belonged to Bellingham in the yellow and black of Borussia Dortmund – would have sent social media into meltdown.
The former AZ Alkmaar captain was a pretty reliable goalscorer back home in the Netherlands, though most of his goals tended to come from the penalty spot or from free-kick situations.
Eight of the ten he has scored during an outstanding 2022/23 campaign, however, have been from open play; comfortably the finest tally of his senior career so far.
Teun Koopmeiners shows why Liverpool like him
Koopmeiners opened the scoring against Monza with a towering far post header before doubling the lead following another well-timed run into the penalty area.
As for his third, the strike which secured the Dutch international his first-ever hat-trick; well, presuming he meant it, of course, lets just saw the man nicknamed ‘RoboKoop’ might just have to make space on his mantelpiece for Serie A’s Goal of the Year award.
“He did an extraordinary thing,” Atalanta coach Gian Piero Gasperini beamed after Koopmeiners lobbed the Monza goalkeeper with a sublime lob from distance. “But also the two goals in the first half, in a position that’s he’s adapting too…”
According to Corriere dello Sport, Liverpool have already taken the ‘first steps’ for a deal which could potentially see Koopmeiners arrive at Anfield for a similar fee to one which will see Alexis Mac Allister join from Brighton to the tune of just £35 million.
i News back up such claims, adding that Jurgen Klopp’s side have scouted him this season.
And while fans and pundits alike are already queuing up to label Mac Allister the bargain of the season already, Koopmeiners could prove to represent equally excellent value for money.
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