Arsenal reportedly want £17m ace who loves Gunners and plays like Matic, fans should be thrilled – TBR View

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Arsenal are reportedly eyeing Teun Koopmeiners, one of the most highly rated midfielders in the Netherlands.

According to De Telegraaf, the Gunners are one of the clubs monitoring the 23-year-old, who can play in midfield and defence.

However, Arsenal are reported to have competition from the Premier League as well as Italy and France.

Rennes, Roma, Atalanta, Inter Milan and Brighton & Hove Albion are apparently eyeing Koopmeiners too.

If the report is true, Arsenal fans should be excited because the AZ captain is a top talent.

Koopmeiners: The story so far

The versatile player has spent his entire career at the Alkmaar-based club.

He came through the ranks at AZ and earned promotion to the first-team four years ago, making 31 appearances in 2017-18.

Since then, Koopmeiners has clocked up an impressive 150 appearances for his club, scoring 43 goals, and earning the captaincy.

He has also won one cap for the Netherlands, playing the full 90 minutes against Mexico in a friendly last October.

Koopmeiners made the Oranje’s Euro 2020 squad and made the bench for the group games against Ukraine and North Macedonia.

Top player, Arsenal fan, and for just £17m?

De Telegraaf notes how Koopmeiners is a boyhood Arsenal fan, which could play a big part if the Gunners make a bid and he has to choose between several clubs.

According to a report in Spain’s AS from April, AZ want 20m euro (around £17m) for Koopmeiners, which would be a bargain.

Koopmeiners’ style of play

Last November, Breaking the Lines discussed Koopmeiners’ style of play in detail, highlighting why he’s so important to AZ.

“Koopmeiners is the orchestrator of AZ’s build-up play, playing on the left side of the midfield pivot in (Arne) Slot’s 4-2-3-1, whilst occasionally deputising in central defence,” they wrote.

“(He) has a sublime ability on the ball and his distribution allows AZ to work their way out of the counter-press.

“When he isn’t playing in defence, Koopmeiners typically slots between the centre-backs or slightly ahead of them during the build-up, allowing AZ to maneuvre the opponent’s pressing and progress the ball further forward.

“The club captain is proficient at breaking the lines with pinpoint long balls, and he’s also capable of dribbling out of pressure and advancing the ball into midfield.”

A number of football fans on Twitter have made comparisons between Koopmeiners and the likes of Nemanja Matic and Paul Scholes.