BAYERN MUNICH are ahead of Arsenal in the race to sign highly rated RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano.
The 21-year-old Frenchman has impressed a number of Europe’s top clubs with reports in Sport Bild suggesting German giants Bayern are leading the chase for his signature.
Upamecano has quickly become one of the top Bundesliga defenders since joining Leipzig from Red Bull Salzburg in January 2017.
Arsenal have long been fans of the France Under-21 international and tried to sign the centre-back in the summer.
Leipzig told the Gunners they would need to fork out £92million in the last transfer window to meet the player’s release clause but the Emirates bosses were not prepared to spend that kind of money with their highest bid rumoured to be in the region of £65m.
Ex-club captain Laurent Koscielny departed the Emirates in the summer and replacement signing David Luiz has failed to hit the heights expected and was sent off on his return to former club Chelsea.
Doubts still remain over a number of Arsenal’s other central defenders including Shkodran Mustafi and Sokratis Papastapoulos but manager Mikel Arteta will be boosted by the arrival of William Saliba next season.
The 18-year-old Frenchman was signed last summer before immediately being loaned back to Saint-Etienne as part of the deal but the Gunners may look to strengthen further as Saliba has been plagued by injuries and is looking at a six week spell out of action after an operation on an adductor muscle.
Upamecano’s refusal to sign a contract extension at Leipzig has fuelled rumours of a move, with Bayern most likely to secure a deal for a player they could have signed three years ago.
In 2017 technical director Michael Reschke had the chance to sign Upamecano from Salzburg but turned it down paving the way for his move to Leipzig.
Leipzig’s sporting director Markus Krosche said: “Dayot is currently one of the best defenders in the Bundesliga, so it would surprise me if no clubs came knocking for him.
“He’s certainly an attractive player for the big clubs in Europe but he can still take a few steps forward and develop with us.”
Upamecano could well be in North London in February as Julian Nagelsmann’s Leipzig side travel to face the Gunners’ rivals Tottenham and he will hope that his star defender is still available for the Champions League round of 16 tie.
WILL Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang be off to the Nou Camp this month?
The rumour mill is churning into overdrive that the Arsenal ace could be off.
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