Manchester United have been linked with a move for defender Dayot Upamecano who also happens to be a transfer target for Premier League rivals Arsenal, as per ESPN.
The report claims: “Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is targeting RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano to bolster his defensive options at Manchester United, sources have told ESPN, after sealing a deal to make Ajax midfielder Donny van de Beek his first major signing this summer.
‘Sources have told ESPN that Solskjaer is now prioritising the addition of a top-quality centre-half to play alongside captain Harry Maguire and Upamecano is the top target.
“He had been due to be out of contract in June 2021 — a deal which included a €60m release clause — but despite committing his future to Julien Nagelsmann’s team, reports in Germany claim that the new deal includes a release clause of €42m, which can be triggered at the end of the 2020-21 season.
“Solskjaer wants to recruit during this window, however, and sources have told ESPN that there is a belief that a deal could be struck with Leipzig before the Oct. 5 transfer deadline.”
Will Man United be able to sign Dayot Upamecano?
Arsenal have signed a couple of defenders over the past year but if Dayot Upamecano is available in the market then Mikel Arteta will surely want to bring him on board.
But this new interest from Manchester United will not be good news for Arsenal since Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side can offer Champions League football to the defender and on top of that, they can also easily pay the release clause as per the terms of his deal.
Also, Arsenal have an array of central defenders in their first-team squad right now so it will be nearly impossible for Mikel Arteta to guarantee Dayot Upamecano regular football next season.
Man United, on the other hand, do not have that issue since Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof have more or less been their manager’s first-choice centre-back pairing during the course of the 2019-20 season.
Dayot Upamecano joined the German side back in 2017 from Salzburg and last season he featured in 38 games for RB Leipzig across all competitions.
