Dayot Upamecano transfer saga finally over as Bayern Munich beat Chelsea to his signature
In an interview with German outlet Bild, as per @iMiaSanMia on Twitter (h/t Football.london), Hasan Salihamidzic announced that Bayern Munich have agreed on a deal to sign Chelsea transfer target Dayot Upamecano.
The French defender has a £37million release clause, which the Bavarians are willing to pay. He would join the Bundesliga champions on a 5-year contract.
Upamecano was heavily linked with a move to the Premier League. Chelsea, Liverpool, and Manchester United were all linked with bringing the 22-year-old to England. (h/t ESPN)
Upamecano is one of the most sought-after young defenders in Europe. He is a regular fixture in the RB Leipzig backline and is a big reason why they are just four points behind league leaders Bayern Munich this season.
A major transfer blow
Salihamdizic, Bayern’s sporting director, revealed that the club pursued the defender for ‘many months’. He also mentioned that the club was aware of the competition they faced for Upamecano.
“We had very good, intensive and professional discussions with Dayot and his advisor Volker Struth for many months. We knew that we had very strong competition.”
The defender has made 26 appearances for Leipzig this season and has already made his international debut for the French national team. He could have been great for Chelsea.
The 22-year-old has enough experience and talent to challenge for a spot in the starting XI, and he has a lot of footballing years ahead of him. Nevertheless, Chelsea are not in dire need of centre-backs as of now.
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However, Thiago Silva is already 36 years old. In the event that he does not stay at the club in the coming years, Thomas Tuchel could have a transfer decision to make if he wanted to find a replacement for the Brazilian.
