Bargain deal on as Man Utd are named as top Dayot Upamecano contenders
RB Leipzig have ruled out the January sale of Dayot Upamecano – but will be powerless to prevent his summer exit with Manchester United named as a leading suitor.
The powerful French defender has emerged as one of the world’s outstanding centre-halves.
Given his performances in the Bundesliga and the Champions League, it’s little surprise to see the strong interest in acquiring his services.
Indeed, Upamecano has been strongly linked with Manchester United and Liverpool.
It was even claimed United could launch a bid to sign him this month. Indeed, it was said Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was looking to boost his side’s title hopes and get the jump on their rivals also looking at the France defender.
Signing Upamecano now would cost in the region of €55m – far more than the €42.5m exit clause that becomes active this summer.
However, transfer expert Fabrizio Romano insists United are not in talks to sign him this month. Furthermore, he states that Leipzig have categorically ruled out his sale in January.
However, that will mean the Bundesliga side will be powerless to keep the Frenchman were any side to trigger that exit clause this summer.
Indeed, it’s strongly accepted that Upamecano will leave Leipzig. The three-times capped France efender will have no shortage of admirers either.
Bayern Munich are likely to be at the front of that queue. Just last week Bayern’s chief executive Karl-Heinz Rummenigge made it clear their desire to sign him.
However, Romano has named United as being in the race to sign him this summer.
He tweeted: ‘To be clear about Dayot Upamecano. No chances for him to leave RB Leipzing in the coming days, he’ll be sold next summer [release clause €42.5m]. Manchester United are *not* in talks to sign him in January. The race is open for next summer.’
United, however, are unlikely to be the only rivals to Bayern. Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea are also likely to be in the mix. The German recently admited he tried to bring the defender to his former club PSG during the summer.
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Leipzig willing to sell Upamecano
Leipzig, who currently sit second in the Bundesliga, recently admitted they are powerless to keep Upamecano this summer.
Manager Julian Nagelsmann coped with the summer loss of star striker Timo Werner, who joined Chelsea for £47.5million. Upamecano could well be the next man out, with CEO Oliver Mintzlaff explaining his position on transfers.
“We have a squad that is very broad in terms of quality,” he told SportBild. “So we will sell top performers again if it makes financial sense. We can cope with it from a sporting point of view.
“When I think of Werner, [Matheus] Cunha, [Naby] Keita or [Diego] Demme, we’ve already made a lot of money and still made progress in terms of the sporting side.”
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