According to Sky Germany reporter Florian Plettenberg, Bayern Munich defender Dayot Upamecano is stalling on a contract extension offer from the German giants, apparently because he’s holding out for an offer from Liverpool
or Real Madrid. Like his former RB Leipzig teammate Ibrahima Konaté, he’s a free agent in the summer.
Upamecano has been linked to Liverpool over the past year, and he does fit the archetype of defenders that the Reds seem to have been targeting: able to progress the ball from the back, speedy, and able to defend open space. Despite his world-class reputation, Bundesliga watchers will be familiar with the occasional howler from him, but to give him credit, he seems to have been able to cut down on those errors as of late.
However, I’m just not really sold on this rumour. Upamecano is 27 years old, and I don’t see Liverpool being the kind of club to bring a player at that age and committing to paying them top money into their early 30s.
The reported deal on the table: 4 year deal worth €20M in gross earnings, a €20M cash bonus, and only a €65M release clause. Do you see Liverpool going above that?
If I had to wager a guess, Upa’s camp is trying to get bigger money from another side, and Liverpool obviously need centre-backs, so they’re just doing what any potential free agent should be doing.
