Now more than ever we see teams that are desperate to find a defender who can contribute when it comes to building attacks, but that often comes at the expense of their defensive instincts.
Dayot Upamecano is rated as one of the most promising defenders in Europe just now, and he certainly has the making of an all round player.
He’s solid defensively, dominant in the air, strong and quick, while he’s also good on the ball and is able to bring the ball out from the back, as evidenced by this pretty incredible stat:
Dayot Upamecano dribbles past an opposition more times p90 (1.36) than he gets dribbled past (0.83).
Baller. ?????? pic.twitter.com/Oh2NPrO6SK
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) April 15, 2020
Having a defender who is more likely to go past his man and start an attack than be dribbled past is a very rare thing, and it could make him an exciting player to watch.
Any all round defender will immediately be likened to Virgil van Dijk, but it would be understandable with Upamecano.
He looks set to leave RB Leipzig this Summer and Real Madrid, Barcelona and Arsenal have all been heavily linked, so it will be interesting to see where he ends up.
Regardless of where he does go, it looks like that team will get a very promising defender.