‘The best’: Alan Pardew wowed by £12m man who Everton reportedly want

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Everton director Marcel Brands reportedly wants to bring Eredivisie AZ Alkmaar’s captain Teun Koopmeiners to the Premier League this summer.

Alan Pardew has labelled Teun Koopmeiners the most talented defensive player in the Eredivisie at present, speaking to The Mail after the AZ Alkmaar captain was linked with a £12 million to Everton.

You have to feel for AZ.

With just 13 games to go, a thrilling, free-flowing team built in the image of Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona by coach Arne Slot were level on points with Ajax at the top of the table and dreaming of only the third Eredivisie title in their entire history.

But with the Dutch football season brought to a premature end by the global health crisis, AZ’s hopes have been dashed in the cruellest fashion. What’s more, the league’s most attracting footballing side could now see their exciting squad picked apart with the vultures circling.

Myron Boadu, Calvin Stengs and Oussama Idrissi are expected go but Koopmeiners could be the biggest loss of them all. The Sun claims that Everton’s director of football Marcel Brands is a big fan of a 22-year-old skipper with just one season remaining on his contract.

“The AZ captain Teun Koopmeiners, a left-footed centre back who can sit in midfield, is probably the best player in Holland in defensive areas,” ex-West Ham, Newcastle and Crystal Palace boss Pardew says, having witnessed the Dutch U21 international in the flesh during his short spell in charge of ADO Den Haag.

With 16 goals in all competitions this season, you’d be forgiven for thinking Koopmeiners is a midfielder of the attacking variety. Instead, he is a deep-lying playmaker who is so comfortable on the ball that he can slot in at centre half with ease, a la a young Javier Mascherano perhaps.

Most of those goals have come from penalties. Though with Gylfi Sigurdsson firing more than a few spot kicks into the stands recently, The Toffees could maybe do with Koopmeiner’s composure from 12 yards.