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Dayot Upamecano Unable To Start Pre-Season Training With Bayern Munich Due To Bizarre RB Leipzig Contract Clause

Dayot Upamecano Unable To Start Pre-Season Training With Bayern Munich Due To Bizarre RB Leipzig Contract Clause

Bayern Munich have paid Dayot Upamecano's €42.5 million release clause but he cannot join up with them straight away.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Bayern Munich's new signing Dayot Upamecano is set to be left in limbo due to a bizarre clause in his RB Leipzig contract "holding him hostage".

The Bundesliga champions announced they had completed a deal for the French defender after meeting his €42.5 million release clause.

Upamecano signed a five-year deal and will once again be managed by Julian Nagelsmann, who has joined him in making the switch from Leipzig to Bayern.

It was expected that Upamecano would become a Bayern player on July 1 but a new report from BILD claims his contract at Leipzig is still active until July 15 because his release clause was activated.

It's said that if Bayern want him to join up with them before that date, they would have to to cover half of Upamecano's monthly salary - reportedly around €200,000, and the Bavarian outfit are understandably not massively keen on that arrangement at this point.

As a result, Upamecano will report for pre-season training with Leipzig on July 5 and spend just over a week there before linking up with his new employers.

Image: PA
Image: PA

Florian Scholz, Leipzig's commercial director, confirmed the bizarre situation.

"It would certainly make more sense for both clubs if Dayot Upamecano started preparing for his new club after the summer break," Scholz said, as per Bavarian Football Works.

"However, it is correct that this is not the case with the current contractual arrangement. That's why we expect him to start training at RB Leipzig."

Upamecano has been one of the most in-demand defenders in recent years, having courted interest from a slew of elite European clubs.

At the age of 17, he was close to joining Manchester United but the move ultimately never happened.

"I was a young boy. I wanted to sign for them straight away," he told The Athletic.

"Manchester United! But then my parents took me aside and said: 'Let's think carefully about this'."

He moved to Red Bull Salzburg and later sister club Leipzig, where he made 154 appearances and impressed in the Champions League.

Featured Image Credit:

Topics: Dayot Upamecano, RB Leipzig, Bayern Munich, Bundesliga

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and wrestling. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has interviewed some of the biggest names in the field - including the first UK interview with The Hardy Boyz after their return to WWE. He has never sported a pair of Lonsdale Slip-ons, contrary to reports.

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