Arsenal and other clubs have reportedly been told to pay £87million to seal the transfer of RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano.
The exciting young Frenchman looks a huge talent and has been linked with several big clubs in recent times, most notably Arsenal, who could do with a top young centre-back signing like him to replace flops like David Luiz, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Shkodran Mustafi.
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A recent report from L’Equipe, translated by the Sun, linked Upamecano with Arsenal, and David Ornstein confirmed in a Q&A session on The Athletic that they are interested in the 20-year-old.
It’s easy to see how Upamecano could be a worthwhile investment for Arsenal, but one imagines his price tag of £87m, also mentioned by Ornstein, would be too much for the Gunners.
It remains to be seen if AFC could perhaps negotiate that down, but others would also argue that this is the state of the current market and the north Londoners may just have to splash out.
Liverpool spent big on Virgil van Dijk and it’s massively paid off for them, while Manchester United will hope the same can happen for them with Harry Maguire.
If Arsenal want to catch up with their rivals they need to improve defensively and a big signing like this may be just what’s needed.