Liverpool target Teun Koopmeiners skips Atalanta training to force transfer: 'We feel blackmailed'

Atalanta midfielder Teun Koopmeiners has skipped training to try and force a move away from the Italian club, his coach has revealed.

Rumours of a £45million transfer away from Bergamo have been rife since Koopmeiners helped his team win last season’s Europa League, with Liverpool strongly linked as Arne Slot eyes his first new signing.

However it is Juventus in pole position for the Dutchman and Atalanta boss Gian Piero Gasperini has claimed that the player has already agreed to move to Turin, leaving his club feeling “blackmailed”.

“The situation with him was going very well until last week, then the player decided to go to Juventus,” Gasperini revealed to local newspaper L'Eco di Bergamo.

“He already has an agreement, he feels stressed and has decided not to play or train with us anymore.

“With this attitude he cannot be useful to the team, nor to his teammates. The club therefore has taken a very firm line, because we feel blackmailed by this situation.

“It’s different from the other times in which Atalanta has sold valuable players to bigger teams.

“I'm already ready [for the new season], on the starting blocks, and I wouldn't want to have to drag along those who are still celebrating last season. We are now in a much more difficult situation than we could have foreseen.”

Liverpool are reportedly keen on signing a new midfielder this summer and are said to be leading the race to sign Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi.