Despite smashing their club record transfer fees in consecutive transfer windows, Barcelona don’t aim to stop at that.
In a recent transfer rumour, Barcelona are now ready to launch yet another €100mn offer for a player in their third successive transfer window. The man here in talks is 19-year-old Frenchman Dayot Upamecano.
The teenager currently plays in the Bundesliga with RB Leipzig and is a potential summer target for the likes of Manchester United, Arsenal, AC Milan and Bayern Munich.
But the Catalans are ready to topple every club with a massive €100mn bid that can neither be matched by any of these clubs nor be rejected by the German outfit.
With the departure of Javier Mascherano and the speculative uncertain future of Samuel Umitit, Barcelona are in desperate need to sign a defensive minded player.
Although Barcelona have signed Yerry Mina in January, the deal with Gremio’s Artur means Mina will most probably leave on a loan move somewhere. This leaves Barcelona with only Vermaelen as choice.
But considering his susceptibility to injuries and loss of regular play-time, he is definitely not a long time successor for Gerard Pique at the center-back position.
According to reports from French outlet Telefoot, Upamecano was one of the names on the short-list of defenders previously reported. The French media outlet reports that Barcelona are willing to pay up to 100 million euros to take French defensive player.
Upamecano arrived at RB Leizpig from RB Salzburg in January 2017 for €10 million and has evolved his game to the point that he’s seen as one of the most impressive center halves in the Bundesliga.
This season, the defender has played 35 matches in all competitions (Bundesliga, Champions League group stage, Europa League knock-out and German Cup) and has secured himself as one of the first names on Ralph Hasenhüttl’s teamsheet.
“When you’re young, you dream of Real Madrid, Barcelona or Manchester United,” he admitted to TF1’s ‘Telefoot’ programme. “But to get there, you have to work,” the Frenchman claimed in his interview with Telefoot.
“I’m proud of myself, very happy. I have to continue in this manner. Then I can look higher. For the moment, my preference is Leipzig. After that, we’ll see.”
