Everton must keep an eye on Teun Koopmeiners of AZ Alkmaar after receiving Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg transfer blow.
We haven’t even entered the summer transfer window and the tale of Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg is already a transfer saga. In less than 72 hours, Everton has gone from strong contenders to landing the Dane after their second bid to completely giving up on the Southampton wantaway star. The Hojbjerg blow brings us back to the drawing board and Everton will be evaluating other options. AZ Alkmaar captain Teun Koopmeiners is a player Everton should now focus on.
According to the Express, the Royal Blues may withdraw their interest in Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg after the 24 year old saying he prefers Spurs over the Toffees. Everton has made a total of three bids of £18 million, £20 million and £25 million respectively. Going above £25 million for a player who has just 12 months left on his contract will be a terrible decision. In fact, Marcel Brands must concentrate on more reasonable targets and one of them is Teun Koopmeiners.
AZ Alkmaar captain Koopmeiners has had a wonderful and highly productive season with the Cheeseheads. The captain despite playing as a deep central midfielder collected 11 goals in Eredivisie and protected the back four while playing as a CDM.
He also played few Eredivisie games as a centre-back, 6 to be precise and helped AZ keep a clean sheet in all of them. He’s a solid candidate to actually fill the Idrissa Gueye void at Finch Farm. Everton has been previously linked to the 22 year old and the player himself admitted back in June that there is some interest for him from the Premier League.
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The midfield is a department which lacks the most stability. Ironically, the mid needs to be the most balanced area of a team for them to perform and extract results on the field. Everton’s midfield looks in shambles with Tom Davies failing miserably to put in robust displays.
Jean-Philippe Gbamin has spent most of his time on the treatment table. Fabian Delph is no different. The 30 year old was brought in to infuse a champion mentality to the team but he has found himself accompanying Gbamin to rehabilitation sessions.
Andre Gomes is the only midfielder to bank upon but he isn’t the right choice for anchoring the midfield. His technical adeptness is more effective in the final third where he can thread defence splitters or start a combination play that can result in a goal. The Toffees lack a player who dismantles the opposition attack and acts as a protective guard to the defence.
Teun Koopmeiners is the man to go for. His versatility could come clutch for Carlo Ancelotti and help fill Gueye’s shoes in the team. Valued at £15 million, he is a more logical option for Everton than Hojbjerg.