Manchester United missed out on signing one of the most talented defenders in Europe for just £2m in 2015, the star turned down a move after the club’s broken promises.
According to Mirror Football, Manchester United were close to the signing of Red Bull Leipzig central-defender Dayot Upamecano in 2015.
Upamecano was just 16 years old at the time and as a result of United’s broken promises to the player, the Frenchman decided to join Red Bull Salzburg in Austria.
The French Under-21 international moved from Salzburg to their sister club Leipzig in January of 2017.
According to the player’s agent, Thierry Martinez, United was “the club that has made him dream since he was a kid”. What could’ve been a perfect partnership came to nothing after Upamecano and his team turned down a move.
Martinez explained why the deal fell through to So Foot:
“An intermediary met with us, but between the project she presented us and what was actually going to happen.
“A flat was promised, but that changed to a host family with only six return trips for his parents.
“When you uproot a player at such a young age, that isn’t enough. I wanted Dayot to have a stable emotional balance off the pitch.”
The Daily Star have reported that Salzburg’s decision to use a PowerPoint presentation is what won over Upamecano. If Manchester United were just slightly more considerate and showed the youngster a clearer path, they would have one of the rising star on their books.
The Frenchman could get the chance to make his so-called ‘dream’ move this summer, according to the MEN the Red Devils are monitoring the youngster but they will have to battle with Bayern Munich according to Bild, the youngster was offered to the Bavarians before his move to Leipzig.
Upamecano’s release clause stands at £88m – should any team trigger this clause, there would be a new record for the most expensive defender in the world.
