“Took a while”
At the end of June AZ Alkmaar‘s technical director Max Huiberts, confirmed that he was in talks with Atalanta to discuss a potential transfer of midfielder Teun Koopmeiners. “That doesn’t mean we have agreed,” he said to Voetbal International at the time. Two months would pass until a final deal was agreed. The Italian club has finally made the deal official on Monday.
Koopmeiners confirmed the transfer after his club’s 3-1 victory over SC Heerenveen in an interview with ESPN. The midfielder was informed ahead of the game that a transfer had been agreed. “It took a while but now it is done,” Koopmeiners said. According to Algemeen Dagblad and Fabrizio Romano, Alkmaar will receive €12 million, plus an additional €2 million in bonuses.
Een geëmotioneerde Teun Koopmeiners na het besef dat hij zijn laatste wedstrijd voor AZ heeft gespeeld pic.twitter.com/U9OcsTeNDh
— ESPN NL (@ESPNnl) August 29, 2021
Asked about leaving the club, who he had played for since 2009, Koopmeiners was unable to hide his emotions. “It is a crazy situation,” the AZ captain said with tears in his eyes. Koopmeiners is a product of the AZ academy and has scored 43 goals and 17 assists in 154 games for his club since 2017.
#AZ #heeaz 1-3 #TK8 pic.twitter.com/8rFDUBmih3
— AZ (@AZAlkmaar) August 29, 2021
