According to Sky Sports, Manchester City will tussle with bitter cross-town rivals Man United for the signature of RB Leipzig centre-back Dayot Upamecano – the defender is reportedly valued at around £52.5 million.
Upamecano, who has made 21 Bundesliga starts for Leipzig this season, is currently emerging as one of the hottest young defensive aces in Europe with both managers Pep Guardiola and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer now keeping tabs on his progress in Germany.
City in particular, appear to be in dire need to strengthen defensively as both Nicolas Otamendi and John Stones have arguably underperformed this season in Aymeric Laporte’s absence.
The latter man has had to endure long spells on the sidelines this campaign with a knee injury, with Guardiola having to shift Fernandinho in at centre-half alongside the rotating Stones and Otamendi.
Should we sign Upamecano?
Yes
No
Now, however, Sky are reporting that we aim to fix our gaping holes through the middle of the back four by signing Upamecano – but United’s presence in the transfer battle could mean we face a tussle for his signature.
Compared to our current defensive crop, Upamecano has averaged more tackles than any Sky Blues player this campaign bar Joao Cancelo and Oleksandr Zinchenko according to WhoScored.
The Frenchman has also made more interceptions than any City player on average except Laporte who has played just seven games, potentially bringing attention to the fact they would be a formidable pairing.
As well as having impressive stats, teammate Dani Olmo also lauded Upamecano as the ‘future of France’ in a past interview with Mundo Deportivo.
Bearing this in mind, a battle for the 21-year-old’s signature could pay dividends in the future.