Gossip: Man United make U-turn on £38m target; £113m man off

Matt Stead

One 0-0 draw with Manchester City and Manchester United no longer want a centre-half…

 

THE ONLY WAY IS UP
While the claim in October was that Manchester United had ‘upset’ Dayot Upamecano with a low-ball offer in his youth, the club have supposedly been put off the player by mid-December.

It is not particularly clear as to why. The Athletic explain only that Manchester United ‘have now cooled their interest’ in the centre-half, who ‘is no longer a primary target’, as ‘made clear’ by the Premier League club.

That is likely to leave Bayern Munich largely unopposed as they try and persuade Leipzig to part with one of their biggest assets. Of course, it might well be out of their hands with Upamecano’s release clause set to drop to £38m at the end of the season.

The 22-year-old, for his part, is eager to leave in the hope of boosting his prospects of playing for France in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers and delayed Euros. But it won’t be for Old Trafford.

 

SZO CLOSE
The revolving talent door will see Upamecano leave Leipzig at around about the same time Dominik Szoboszlai comes in. The natural step up from Salzburg is set for January.

It is reported by most reputable outlets that the apparent Arsenal target is Germany bound, with the move likely to take place during the Austrian Bundesliga winter break.

Salzburg have two games remaining before their month off, with Szoboszlai asked after the 3-1 win over LASK whether they would be his final matches for the club. “Yes, exactly,” was his response, before stating that he hadn’t decided for certain who he would join. But it really is Leipzig, folks.

 


Same old Arsenal a damning indictment on Arteta’s leadership


 

JOAO FACTOR
Maybe Arsenal could save whatever funds they had spare for Szoboszlai and use it to buy about one-eighth of Joao Felix? The forward’s association with Atletico Madrid ‘definitively risks ending completely after the last frictions’ with Diego Simeone.

Much as Mikel Arteta and David Luiz are no longer on speaking terms in north London, Felix and Simeone have apparently clashed in the Spanish capital. The former’s anger upon being substituted in the derby defeat to Real Madrid ‘testifies to a relationship that never blossomed’ with his manager.

While not short of admirers, the story is different with regard to teams that could actually afford a player Atletico signed for £113m in summer 2019. Calciomercato throw the names of Juventus and Inter Milan into the hat, with swaps involving Paulo Dybala and Lautaro Martinez proposed to make up much of the monetary value.