RB Leipzig make Dayot Upamecano transfer decision as Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea circle

Liverpool: Klopp opens up on if new defender will be signed

The likes of Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool will have to wait until the summer at the earliest to land Dayot Upamecano after his club reportedly decided against cashing in on the defender in January. The 22-year-old centre back is one of the most sought after players in Europe due to his consistent performances for RB Leipzig in recent years.

Last week RB Leipzig’s CEO Oliver Mintzlaff gave his suitors hope they might be able to land the France international after acknowledging the Bundesliga title chasers would sell their star names if it made financial sense and wouldn’t damage the team on the pitch too much.

But on Monday morning, respected journalist Fabrizio Romano tweeted: “RB Leipzig are not open to selling Dayot Upamecano in January. He’s expected to leave the club next summer – many clubs [are] interested and set to open talks with his agent. The release clause value is €42m.”

The player has been with the Bundesliga side for four years, having signed from sister club RB Salzburg as an 18-year-old for a fee of around £9 million.

JUST IN: Man Utd to battle with PSG for Romain Faivre after Declan Rice snub

The two Red Bull-owned sides are recognised as being two of the best clubs in the world when it comes to developing players and then selling them on for huge profit.

RB Leipzig are not afraid to spend as well though, with the recent acquisitions of Arsenal transfer target Dominik Szoboszlai and Josko Gvardiol, plus the obligations to sign loan players Angelino and Benjamin Henrichs, said to cost around 70 million euros.

Last week RB Leipzig’s CEO was asked if the outlay meant the club would be forced to sell star players this summer.

DON’T MISS
Man Utd may have a ‘younger Edinson Cavani’ already at Old Trafford [TRANSFERS]
Hamilton warned Verstappen ‘has grown’ ahead of 2021 F1 season [OPINION]
Man Utd star Amad Diallo’s two weaknesses explained by former coach [ANALYSIS]

Mintzlaff told Bild: “We too are stuck in the Covid crisis, with [us down] around 60 million euros in revenue in two years. We therefore had to carefully weigh up whether we could even handle the transfer from Szoboszlai.

“At the same time, it is our duty to continue to invest in young, talented players and thus in the future of RB Leipzig. This is our DNA.

“What I can rule out after the Szoboszlai transfer, however, is that we will bring more players this winter or summer without us relinquishing any.”

Before going on to add: “We have a very broad squad in terms of quality. So we will give up high performers again if it makes financial sense and we can absorb it in a sporting way.

“When I think of [Timo] Werner, [Matheus] Cunha, [Naby] Keïta or [Diego] Demme, we have already redeemed a lot and still developed further in terms of sport.

“Overall we have invested a lot in our team, no question about it. But look: the current squad had a market value of less than 250 million [euros] when each player debuted. And if we now take the current market value, we are around 550 million.

“This plus of over 300 million has to be taken into account when talking about investments. We create value with our way.”

Source: Read Full Article