Hot prospect Upamecano a formidable barrier for Tottenham to break down
Defender has further enhanced reputation by stifling Bayern greats, writes Rob Bagchi
Amonth ago, Dayot Upamecano was the man of the match in RB Leipzig’s scoreless draw with Bayern Munich, earning the award for muzzling the lethal Robert Lewandowski. The 21-year-old French defender was suspended for his side’s Champions League visit to London last month, but Tottenham have scouted him so exhaustively that they will recognise how tricky their mission at the Red Bull Arena tonight could be.
Overcoming a 1-0 deficit without an orthodox striker is demanding enough. To do so against a centre-back of uncommon maturity and masterly poise is daunting indeed.
Upamecano was already the most coveted centre-half in Europe before he stifled Lewandowski. Last summer Arsenal had a £50 million bid rejected and turned to Saintetienne’s William Saliba, who will join them in July, instead.
Leipzig had refused to sell him unless Arsenal met Upamecano’s release clause, which was set at £72million, but with his contract entering its final year during the next transfer window, the clause can be triggered for just over £50million. Small wonder, then, that Chelsea, Spurs, Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern are all now jostling alongside Arsenal for his signature.
The performance against Bayern emphasised his quality. The defender employed his strength and pace to hound the great Polish centre-forward, whose frustration was intensified by Upamecano’s uncannily precise anticipation.
When the elusive Thomas Muller ghosted into the area from the right, the defender was slick and smart enough to smother him, too. A veteran of every age-group team from France’s under-16s to under-21s, it cannot be much longer before he establishes himself alongside captain Raphael Varane at the heart of the world champions’ defence.
Like Antoine Griezmann, Paul Pogba, Aymeric Laporte and Lucas Hernandez, Upamecano has never played professionally for a French club.
Each of them was recruited straight from youth systems while still in their midteens, Upamecano from Valenciennes in the far north on the border with Belgium.
The centre-back was born in Normandy of West African descent, sharing dual nationality with Guinea-bissau through his father, and was brought up in La Madeleine, a sprawling suburb of Evreux built in the early 1960s. Football has always been key to community cohesion and the structure of organised games there has produced Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele, Monaco’s Samuel Grandsir and Rennes’ Rafik Guitane, as well as the Leipzig defender.
After two years in the youth team at Valenciennes and following France’s victory in the Under-17 Euros in 2015, he moved to RB Salzburg for £2 million at the age of 16. He had come close to signing for Manchester United but ultimately opted for the Austrian club, saying he preferred the more accommodating arrangements for parental visits and the opportunity to live communally in an academy.
Upamecano was farmed out to FC Liefering, Salzburg’s feeder club, for a season and, after six months in the Salzburg first team, playing largely as a defensive midfielder, he was sold to sister club RB Leipzig for £8.9 million in January 2017. United had again signalled their interest before the transfer but he sought Dembele’s advice. “Here they are going to make you play,” the France winger advised, stressing the Bundesliga’s empowerment of young players.
His boyhood friend was right. Upamecano became a regular in his second year and, although a knee injury cost him five months of last season, he has been a fixture in the middle of a back three or on the left side of a two-man central defence ever since.
Leipzig have had a Francophone tinge for the past few years and he found a welcome from Naby Keita when he arrived.
In this age of statistical analysis, Upamecano is a star pupil. The Bundesliga has clocked him as quicker than Pierre-emerick Aubameyang. Above all, though, it is his composure as he dribbles forward, flights long, accurate passes or smoothly accelerates to restrain attackers that promise to make him a bargain at £50 million. If Tottenham cannot beat him this evening, his refusal to sign a new contract means they could always buy him. But a number of suitors are already jockeying for position.