Dayot Upamecano stayed at Bundesliga high-flyers RB Leipzig despite heavy interest from Premier League underachievers Arsenal over the summer.
RB Leipzig are expecting a new bid to arrive on their desk for star centre-back Dayot Upamecano with Arsenal eyeing a bargain £40 million deal for the highly-rated Frenchman, according to The Sun.
With The Gunners losing to Sheffield United on Monday night to cast further doubt on their Premier League top four hopes, their lack of defensive quality has once again come under question with David Luiz and Sokratis Papastathopoulos, despite all their experience at the very top of the game, failing to produce anything resembling a reliable partnership.
The Sun claims that Arsenal failed with a £40 million bid for Upamecano in the summer and the North London giants are now set to make another offer either in January or at the end of the season as they look to salvage what already looks like a disappointing campaign.
Leipzig’s hand has been severely weakened by the fact that they have failed to tie the 20-year-old down to a new contract with his current deal due to expire in 2021. As a result, the Bundesliga title challengers may be forced to sell Upamecano for the same £40 million fee that they rejected just months ago.
The former Salzburg starlet has started all of Leipzig’s last four Bundesliga games after recovering from injury.
According to Sport, he turned down an offer to join Arsenal in 2016 in the hope that Barcelona would sign him instead. It remains to be seen whether he is more open to joining the Gunners three or four years on.
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