Arsenal’s €60 million bid for Dayot Upamecano has reportedly been rejected by RB Leipzig, who want the Frenchman to lead their defence.
Arsenal have been active in the transfer market in the last few weeks, and the club are expected to bring in a few more faces. Manager Unai Emery wants to add a new centre-back to his squad and is searching through the window for one. According to Bild, the Gunners have seen a €60 million offer for French defender Dayot Upamecano turned down, with RB Leipzig keen to keep him.
William Saliba has been Arsenal’s sole defensive signing during this window. However, the 18-year-old has rejoined Saint-Etienne on a season-long loan deal and will only play for Arsenal next season. As a result, the Gunners continue to look for a central defender in the market, and with just a couple of days left before the transfer window shuts, they need to act fast.
The situation with Laurent Koscienly is baffling, with the Arsenal club captain widely expected to leave for a return to his native, France. Additionally, Shkodran Mustafi is facing an uncertain future as Arsenal look to offload him, although there have been no suitors till date for the German defender. AS Monaco made some enquiries, but there have been no developments beyond that.
So, without an actual plan to resolve the futures of their current senior defenders, Arsenal have gone forward with a massive €60 million bid for RB Leipzig’s Upamecano. Arsenal held an interest in the 20-year-old Frenchman earlier in the window. They were looking at Upamecano as a direct replacement for Mustafi, but have since focused their efforts in bringing other stars.
Leipzig have rebuffed Arsenal’s €60 million offer, as Julian Nagelsmann considers Upamecano as an integral part of his defence for next season. The defender has been a crucial part of the club, playing 22 games across all competitions last term until a knee injury saw him miss a major chunk of the second half of the campaign.
However, he has come back to prime fitness and is thought to be ready to be a leader in the side. It is still unclear if the bid got rejected for the money on offer, though. Upamecano is a solid defender, in the old fashioned mould of a strong, tall and pacy centre-back.
With only two years left on his current deal with the Bundesliga club, Arsenal might go back to Leipzig with an improved offer to tempt them to sell their prized possession. However, the player’s recent insistence that he is looking to develop at Leipzig might force Arsenal to look elsewhere.
As things stand, there are not many days for Arsenal to try and bring in a central defender. The transfer window in England ends on Thursday, but they have plenty of time after that to sort out the sales of some unwanted stars. Upamecano might be a fantastic player to upgrade their defende, but at this point, a transfer looks highly unlikely.
