Upamecano: Interest from both Manchester City and United

Dayot Upamecano has made himself an elite defender in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig and has drawn the attention of two of the top teams in England, Manchester City and Manchester United. The 21-year-old French center back has been an invaluable piece of Julian Nagelsmann's team and a reason why they are challenging for the top of the Bundesliga.

The news comes as Manchester City are desperate to replace the work of Vincent Kompany. The Belgian defender was a leader on and off the field for the club and his presence has been missed since leaving at the end of the 2019 campaign. City sit in second place but have had lapses defensively that they believe Upamecano can correct in the coming years.

For Manchester United, the same reasoning applies. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has done his best taking the Red Devils without a massive overhaul. Harry McGuire proved to be a solid pickup on defense, becoming captain of the club in less than a year, but he is still looking for a center back partner. Upamecano has the resume to perform on that level.

Upamecano has played 76 games for RB Leipzig and helped guide the team to a DFB Pokal final against Bayern Munich last year. Despite the interest, Leipzig won't be pressured to sell. Sky Sports Germany reports that they are not a team that is struggling for funds during the crisis and will demand a high price for the player.

Comments

New York Red Bulls Sought to Sign Liverpool Signee Takumi Minamino

A revealing interview with Jesse Marsch on ESPN revealed that the New York Red Bulls were interested in bringing in recent Liverpool signing Takumi Minamino. The 25-year-old Japanese winger has dazzled under Marsch in Red Bull Salzburg but could have been doing the same in New York.
"We were following him in New York," revealed Marsch when speaking with Taylor Twellman. "We liked him a lot and thought that there would be potential for him to come to New York and play for MLS. He was still young, he didn't always play under the other coaches that he had played for here."
This revelation shows the synergy between the teams which has seen movement in the past towards MLS but never a top talent such as Minamino. Previous signings from Salzburg included Fredrik Gulbrandsen and and Marc Rzatkowski. Both were very good players but neither peaked while playing in New York.
For Minamino, staying in Salzburg worked out well. Under Marco Rose last season he made 27 leagu…

Tyler Adams is Developing a Bad Reputation

News from RB Leipzig is that midfielder Tyler Adams will miss several games with a calf injury, yet another set-back in a series that has come to plague his time in Europe. Considering the amount of time he's missed thus far, we may not be far from the point where Adams develops the reputation for being injury prone.

Adams is believed to have suffered the injury during training and will miss the weekend's fixture as well as the Champions League clash against Tottenham Hotspur which would have been his European competition debut.

The injury is nothing new for Adams who was sidelined for most of the campaign with a groin strain. He only rejoined the club in December and appeared ready to make a statement within the starting lineup. Now he is back on the injured list and leaving Leipzig to consider whether or not he will be dependable over the long term.

The other loser in this scenario is the New York Red Bulls. After allowing Leipzig to sign Adams to a modest fee, many thought…

Armas Focused on Excellence not Expectations

New York Red Bulls head coach Chris Armas isn't interested in what expectations are for his club in 2020. Instead, he's interested in making sure he gets the best out of young group of players eager to prove themselves to the league.
"On the outside there are going to be some expectations," said Armas during a media call. "We have guys coming back with different experience, with more experience. I'm not thinking of the playoffs or MLS Cup. My expectation and demand around here is excellence."
Armas is leading a group that is mostly unproven in key areas such as in the striker position. The team isn't expected to mirror the tactics of years prior and the third-year head coach knows that changes are necessary to continue to deliver the kind of soccer that Red Bulls have made their fans accustomed to seeing.
"We want to win here but above all we want to be a real team that is together. That sounds nice but a lot of teams fall short of that."
…

Red Metro Way

Search This Blog