Leipzig’s £10m starlet set to test Ibrox men

RB LEIPZIG could be set to unleash £10million wonderkid Dayot Upamecano on Rangers today after they beat off Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United to land him.

Rangers will face the Bundesliga high-fliers this afternoon in a friendly, backed by 8,000 of their own fans. RB have been the shock-troops of German football this year and topped the table ahead of perennial winners Bayern Munich earlier in the season.

Leipzig’s success has been largely down to an impressive recruitment policy from manager Ralph Hasenhuttl and renowned sporting director Ralf Rangnick.

Rangers will also come up against Scotland’s most expensive player — £13m winger Oliver Burke. And now Rangers could face Leipzig’s latest star buy.

The German big-spenders snapped up French ace Upamecano from Austrians RB Salzburg in a deal that will rise to over £10m for a kid who has not even made his France Under-21s debut.

He was linked with a host of the cream of clubs in Europe, but opted to join Leipzig on a four-and-a-half year deal.

Rangnick said: ‘We are delighted that Dayot decided to join us to make the next step in his career, despite several offers from top international clubs.

‘We are convinced that Dayot can already be a big addition for the first-team squad in the very near future.

‘Dayot has shown a great deal of promise for his age and we think he will fit in perfectly with the philosophy of the club. It says a lot about this club that he has chosen to come to us.’

The youngster himself insisted he had no hesitation in choosing the ambitious German side ahead of the European superpowers who were interested in him.

He said: ‘I’ve taken a long time to decide to move to Leipzig.

‘I’ve discussed it with my parents and my advisers and I’ve decided this is the best place for me to develop my career.

‘I believe I will improve as a player here and I can’t wait to make my debut.’

Meanwhile, Rangers fans will be greeted as something of a novelty today... because most German teams boycott away games against Leipzig.

This season, fans of Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, Cologne, Borussia Monchengladbach, Mainz, Werder Bremen and Schalke have refused to watch their team in Leipzig.

The fans have protested because they are bankrolled by the Red Bull drinks company and have risen from the fifth division of German football to the Bundesliga since being founded in 2009.