Manchester United are planning to shift their focus to RB Leipzig centre-back Dayot Upamecano as an alternative to Kalidou Koulibaly – according to reports.
Koulibaly has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United over the past two years and with the player all set to depart Napoli this summer, rumours were ripe that Solskjaer might finally try and swoop him up at the end of the season.
But now it seems, the Old Trafford outfit are no longer interested in making a move for the Napoli defender as they want to secure the signing of 21-yea-old Dayot Upamecano as soon as possible.
Dayot Upamecano joined Leipzig from Salsburg in 2017 and over the past two and a half years, the central defender has become an integral part of the Bundesliga side’s backline.
He has already played 76 matches and 26 European matches and since he’s still 21 years old, the youngster has the potential to develop into one of the best central defenders in European football.
Why choose Dayot Upamecano over Koulibaly?
Koulibaly is without a doubt the better defender amongst the pair but right now, there are two main reasons why Manchester United do not want to chase the Senegalese international.
The first and perhaps the biggest reason is that Dayot Upamecano is a much cheaper alternative to Koulibaly with reports claiming that Leipzig are ready to accept a transfer fee of around £35 million for the French U21 international.
As per reports, the player has a release clause worth £53 million but Leipzig are ready to sell him off for a lesser price since he has just a bit more than a year left on his current contract.
The second reason why Man United seemed to up the chase for Kalidou Koulibaly is that Manchester City have also shown interest in the 28-year-old meaning the OT outfit might be looking at a long battle ahead.
So while we are not sure if this is indeed the right move from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer but given the transfer price and the age of the player, the move for Dayot Upamecano is worth taking a gamble.
