Defence has been an area of weakness for Manchester United in recent years. While the club did shell out £80 million to bring Harry Maguire to Old Trafford from Leicester City, he has not had the kind of impact that they would have expected.
While he has managed to build up a decent centre-back pairing with Victor Lindelof, there are still question marks about whether the duo could be the long-term answer to the Red Devils’ issues at the back.
As a result, they have been linked with multiple highly-rated defenders from all over Europe in the recent past. And one of the names that has been mentioned the most is RB Leipzig’s Dayot Upamecano.
The 22-year-old French centre-back is expected to leave the Bundesliga side in the upcoming summer transfer window and will have no lack of suitors. Unfortunately, it does not look Manchester United will be able to secure his signature as reported by respected transfer expert Fabrizio Romano:
Manchester United have never been in advanced talks to sign Upamecano - always been appreciated but ‘unlikely’. He’s the main target for Bayern Münich prepared to pay the release clause, Chelsea and Liverpool are still in the race. Also PSG interest now cooled down 🔴 #mufc
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 10, 2021
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Manchester United look set to miss out on Dayot Upamecano
The 22-year-old could have been a massive signing for the Red Devils. He has already established himself as one of the best defenders in the Bundesliga and is expected to be one of the best in the world with a little bit more experience.
What is more is the fact that there is a £38 million release clause in his contract, which is an absolute bargain for a player of his quality in the current market. But it looks like the likes of Bayern Munich, Chelsea and Liverpool have pulled ahead of Manchester United in the race of the Frenchman’s signature.
That does not mean that they won’t be looking to sign another centre-back though and have been linked with multiple others over the past couple of months, with Fiorentina’s Nikola Milenkovic looking like the most likely option at this moment of time.