Berlin (AFP)

A seventh French at Bayern!

Dayot Upamecano, the 22-year-old international defender from Leipzig, has signed a five-year contract starting next season with the current best club in the world, with the prospect of quickly becoming a major player.

The amount of compensation was not disclosed, but Upamenaco, who arrived in Leipzig in 2017 after being trained at RB Salzburg, had an exit clause of 43 million euros, according to the press.

The Bavarians formalized the news on Sunday, already unveiled on Friday in an interview by their sports director Hasan Salihamidzic.

The opponents of the "Rekordmeister" may once again criticize it for reproducing an old pattern, which at the start of the decade consisted in weakening its competitors in the Bundesliga by recruiting their best players.

The moment of the announcement, in full preparation for Leipzig of a crucial match of RB against Liverpool in the Champions League (Tuesday 21:00), also relates to a "lack of tact", estimated Sunday of the German media.

- Royal way -

But the all-powerful Bayern, author this season of a historic sextuplet (cup, championship, Champions League, national and European super-cups, and Club World Cup) is on his way and preparing his future, anticipating the departures of his key players.

In central defense, two "historic" should say their farewells at the end of the season: the Austrian David Alaba, 28, who is said to be in advanced talks with Real Madrid, and Jérôme Boateng, at the end of his contract at 32. .

The path is therefore royal for Upamecano, who has long been presented as one of the future great central defenders in Europe.

He has already reached a Champions League semi-final with RB Leipzig, notably delivering a particularly remarkable match in the quarter-final last August against Atlético Madrid (2-1).

The native of Evreux, childhood friend of Barcelona Ousmane Dembélé, will have to find his complementarity with the two other young central of the "Rekordmeister", the German international Niklas Süle and the French world champion Lucas Hernandez (both 25 years old) ).

Another man will eventually apply to enter the rotation, the young talented Paris-trained SG Tanguy Kouassi Nianzou, 18, whom Bayern also hatches as a great promise for the future.

- Courted by Chelsea -

"We are happy to have been able to convince Dayot Upamenaco to come to FC Bayern", Salihamidzic said on the club website on Sunday, "Dayot will be a very important element for our team in the years to come, we are convinced of that" .

The young Frenchman with three selections was courted by other big clubs, including Chelsea.

But Salihamidzic was able to force the decision, by presenting him "a vision of his career at Bayern".

"I have always been convinced that we had an interesting proposal for him", welcomed the transfer manager of the "Rekordmeister": "Last week in Doha (during the Club World Cup, editor's note) I spoke again with all stakeholders. At the end of a long process, the player, his family and the management were convinced that FC Bayern was the right partner for him, "he added.

Upamecano will join a very strong French contingent in Bavaria, since six tricolors are playing this season under the red and blue colors of the German champion: the four internationals Kingsley Coman, Corentin Tolisso, Lucas Hernandez and Benjamin Pavard, as well as the former Marseillais Bouna Sarr and Tanguy Kouassi Nianzou.

© 2021 AFP