Man Utd hoping to trump Arsenal with move to sign £52m star

Manchester United have joined Arsenal in the race to sign RB Leipzig’s £52m defender Dayot Upamecano this summer, according to reports via the Mirror.

Upamecano has developed into one of the most highly-rated centre-backs in European football since joining Leipzig from Salzburg in 2017 and he’s tipped to become a regular with the France squad having represented his country at every youth level from U16 to U21.

The 21-year-old’s impressive form at the heart of Leipzig’s defence has caught the eye of clubs here in the Premier League with Arsenal strongly linked with the player last summer.

The Gunners were put off by Upamecano’s £70m asking price, according to the Mirror, but they are expected to renew their interest with a £52.5m buy out clause set to activate at the end of this season.

Mikel Arteta knows he needs to strengthen the Arsenal defence if their to become top four challengers again and Upamecano could be viewed as the ideal long-term partner for William Saliba – who’s set to arrive from Saint-Etienne this summer.

Upamecano is about to enter the final year of his contract and he’s no closer to signing an extension so Leipzig are in a weak negotiating position and it’s seemingly alerted a number of other suitors.

The Mirror claims that Real Madrid, Man City and Bayern Munich have all shown an interest and the newspaper cites a report from Sky Sports that says Manchester United have now entered the race to sign the highly-rated centre-back.

Ole Gunner Solskjaer is expected to be active in the market as he looks to turn United back into contenders for major honours and the Norwegian coach is reportedly eyeing a new top class defender.

Upamecano would certainly fit the bill as he’d be an excellent partner for Harry Maguire and the report suggests that Man Utd are now hoping to beat the likes of Arsenal to the Frenchman’s signature this summer.

We’ll have to wait and see how things develop over the coming months but Upamecano would be a superb signing for United or indeed Arsenal if either club was able to lure the youngster to England from the Bundesliga.