Spalletti admits he wanted to sign struggling Juventus midfielder

The Italian tactician replied to a question about Dutch midfielder Koopmeiners, who has so far failed to justify his €60m price tag at the Allianz Stadium: “I know Koop well because I followed him with other clubs in the past. Then, he cost a lot, and we couldn’t sign him,” Spalletti said.

“When I spoke to him yesterday, I reminded him that we had spoken on the phone. I had tried to convince him, even if our resources were inferior to the club’s [Atalanta’s] demands. I still have the same idea. I think he’s a holding midfielder or a box-to-box midfielder. Sometimes he’s also played as a centre-back. Here again, we have to congratulate a coach, Gasp, who coached him well and took the best out of this player, putting him in a different position. He presses the opponents and he has feet that, when he kicks towards the goal, know where the ball will end up.

“If you cage him, make him play with his shoulders to the goal, close to the opponents’ defensive line, he doesn’t have the quality of Yildiz or Openda, or footballers who were born for that role and that position on the pitch. He has other qualities, but Gasp was excellent in taking the most out of him in that position, from a footballer who had other skill sets.”