Two reasons why Juventus decided to keep Koopmeiners after disappointing first season | OneFootball

Last season, Teun Koopmeiners was an unmitigated flop in Turin, and yet, his future at Juventus was never in jeopardy this summer.

Unfortunately for the Bianconeri, their most expensive signings from the summer of 2024 have all fallen way off the mark, and the club’s former Football Director, Cristiano Giuntoli, ended up paying the price.

Therefore, the new management led by Damien Comolli was keen to offload Douglas Luiz and Nico Gonzalez. In the end, the Frenchman succeeded in this mission, sending the Brazilian midfielder to Nottingham Forest, and the Argentinian winger to Atletico Madrid.

Why Juventus didn’t plan to sell Teun Koopmeiners

Despite suffering an equally underwhelming first campaign at the Allianz Stadium, Koopmeiners’ fate was never in doubt. There weren’t even any reports linking him to the exit door.

So what was behind the Dutchman’s special treatment?

As Calciomercato explains, the 27-year-old was always destined to stay at Continassa due to two main reasons.

Teun Koopmeiners (Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images)

The first is a purely economic factor, as Juventus had spent €61 million to buy the midfielder from Atalanta in the summer of 2024.

Therefore, the Serie A giants knew they couldn’t afford to sell the Netherlands international without registering a capital loss, as his current book value is €48.5 million, a figure that no suitor was willing to fork out, especially on the back of a torrid campaign.

Igor Tudor backing Koopmeiners to shine this season

The second reason is rather technical, as Igor Tudor believes Koopmeiners has so much more to give than what his maiden Juventus campaign suggests.

The Croatian believes in a revival, especially after entrusting the former Atalanta star with a deeper role in the middle of the park.

Koopmeiners has been mostly deployed as an attacking midfielder over the past few years, but Tudor has decided to bring him back to his original position as a central midfielder.

He is currently considered the first option off the bench, while Manuel Locatelli and Khephren Thuram remain the regular starters in the double pivot.