Man Utd boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer ‘opted out’ of a transfer for RB Leipzig defender Dayot Upamecano, according to a report.
The RB Leipzig centre-back, who has been heavily linked with a number of British clubs including the Red Devils and Liverpool, has signed a five-year deal with Bayern Munich.
The European champions met the €42.5m release clause in the 22-year-old’s contract and the Frenchman will join up with his new team-mates on July 1.
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And ESPN claim it was Solskjaer’s ‘desire to sign a left-footed centre-back’ that saw Man Utd rule themselves out of the race for Upamecano.
There was ‘interest’ from Solskjaer and the Man Utd recruitment team ‘particularly because of the release clause in his contract’ but they eventually decided not to try and strike a deal.
The Red Devils currently have Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof, who are both right-footed defenders, as their two starting centre-backs and it’s understood that Solskjaer wants to bring in a left-footer to compliment Maguire.
The report continues by saying that Upamecano’s ‘representatives had already been informed of Solskjaer’s prerequisites before Bayern sealed the deal’.
On losing Upamecano, RB Leipzig chief executive Oliver Mintzlaff said: “Of course, we would have liked to keep Dayot Upamecano at RB Leipzig. However, Dayot indicated to us very fairly and in good time that he would like a new challenge this summer and take the next step,” Mintzlaff said.
“Dayot has shown outstanding development during his time in Leipzig, which is exemplary for our philosophy of finding young talents and consistently bringing them to the top level.
“Dayot has been and remains an important factor in our success and FC Bayern can look forward to an outstanding footballer and great person.”
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