Agent at work as Manchester United in picture for midfielder – Deal would be €30m gamble

Manchester United are in the mix for Juventus’ Teun Koopmeiners, who has never managed to make a mark in Turin.

The Old Lady paid €52m to sign the Dutchman from Atalanta in 2024. Since then, his career has declined and the midfielder has never found his best position.

Under Luciano Spalletti, he had a renaissance of sorts, operating at left centre-back in a back three. That hasn’t proved enough, as the Italian went back to using him in midfield more recently, leading to him being benched twice in the last three Serie A games.

Sport Witness have previously covered Premier League interest in Koopmeiners. That was before he moved to Turin and was thriving in an advanced role at Atalanta.

Now, Manchester United have emerged as a suitor for him.

Red Devils’ facing Galatasaray competition

TuttoSport take a close look at the Netherlands international, who is one of the candidates to leave Juve in the summer.

To avoid a capital loss, Spalletti’s side want at least €30m to sanction an exit. The bigger challenge for them is to find suitors who want Koopmeiners after a difficult two seasons.

The newspaper believe Manchester United are willing to take the risk. They will compete with Galatasaray for Koopmeiners, whose agent Bart Baving was in Turin on Monday to clarify his client’s future.

The Bianconeri believe his resurgence in a defensive role was simply temporary. They want to improve their midfield next summer and feel the 28-year-old’s exit will hand them enough wiggle room to sign a possible replacement.

Spalletti shares the same opinion, as evidenced from how he benched Koopmeiners for league games this month.

Our take: Deal will be a massive gamble

Generally, there has been little doubt about Koopmeiners’ technical ability since his time at AZ Alkmaar.

At Atalanta, he played in a very specific man-for-man system, which brought a lot out of technically blessed players. That helped Koopmeiners score more and use his strengths in the final third.

Now, he finds himself in a muddle and there is uncertainty about his best position. In the Netherlands, he was often a defensive midfielder and also operated at number eight.

That is why a deal would present a massive risk for Manchester United.

Michael Carrick’s side need midfield signings and even if Koopmeiners would add technical ability, they should ideally invest in a player whose stock is rising. The Dutchman’s stock, despite his obvious ability, has been falling.