£40m centre-back will consider Man Utd transfer on one condition

Dayot Upamecano TEAMtalk

Dayot Upamecano will reportedly only consider a move to Manchester United next summer if they are playing in the Champions League.

The Red Bull Leipzig defender was linked with a host of Europe’s big guns, including United and Liverpool, at the start of the summer.

However, the £52m release clause put off suitors, especially as he would have been available for free next summer.

The 22-year-old has since penned a new deal with the Bundesliga club, tying him up until 2023.

His representatives also managed to lower his release clause to around £40m – probably a bargaining tool to get the defender to extend his deal.


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Sport BILD say that Liverpool and Man Utd are aware of the new release clause. And both are interested in doing a deal at the lower price, when the clause kicks in next summer.

The Daily Mirror reports that Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain will likely be at the head of the queue. The paper also suggest Real Madrid will be interested, and claim United “have also been keeping tabs on Upamecano”.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has presided over a woeful start to the Premier League. United have lost twice from three games – the second of which was an embarrassing 6-1 humiliation to Spurs.

Harry Maguire and Eric Bailly were the two centre-backs on show at Old Trafford and both endured a difficult day.

Victor Lindelof is another option for Solskjaer, but in truth United look short of cover at centre-back.

‘Upamecano is the one who jumps out to me’

Dayot Upamecano

Ed Woodward and Co. were believed to be looking for a defender in the summer market, but focused all their attention on trying to land Jadon Sancho. That left Solskjaer without a quality fourth centre-back option.

Upamecano may well fit the bill next summer, but the source say the France star will only consider a move to United if they are playing in Europe’s elite competition.

He’s an option that impresses Rio Ferdinand.

The ex-England defender said: “Upamecano is young, good on the ball, athletic, strong, mobile, plays every game. He’s one you can see coming in right now.

“[Kalidou] Koulibaly has been spoken about for two or three years, he might have missed the boat due to his age. There’s no resale value.

“Upamecano is the one who jumps out to me, when I watched the Champions League last year, he was the one who stood out to me.”

READ MORE: Man Utd will struggle to finish in top six, says pundit