Upamecano shines in Leipzig -
AFP
The 21-year-old defender has just been called up for the first time in the France team.
If he started his professional career in Salzburg, Dayot Upamecano was trained for two seasons in Valenciennes.
Its former trainers and leaders remember, with anecdotes to back it up.
A few weeks ago, his name was still largely unknown to the general public.
But a successful Champions League quarter-final against Atletico Madrid was enough to bring him to light.
At only 21 years old, Dayot Upamecano is making a name for himself as evidenced by his first appearance in the France group during the Nations League matches in Sweden (September 5) then against Croatia (September 8).
The Leipzig defender, who started in Salzburg, has never played pro in France.
But Upamecano spent two years of training in Valenciennes (2013-2015) where he left good memories before taking off in special conditions.
Its former trainers and leaders remember, anecdotes to the key.
As tradition dictates, Dayot Upamecano and Eduardo Camavinga sang in front of the group last night for their first call to the French team!
🎤😄 #FiersdetreBleus 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/hwGKcLy7BQ
- French team ⭐⭐ (@equipedefrance) September 2, 2020
The day he landed in Valenciennes
A pure product from Evreux, Upamecano went to Valenciennes in June 2013 to take tests there in order to join the training center.
Except that at the base, the northern leaders were especially attracted by Eder Verissimo, also trained in Evreux and buddy of Upamecano (who now plays in Evreux in N3).
Former VAFC national U16 coach Olivier Bijotat remembers the future star, aged 15 at the time
“The Evreux educator told us that we also had to take a look at Upamecano and that's how the two players came to spend a day of testing in Valenciennes.
We immediately positioned ourselves in a favorable position because we had a superior player in front of us.
At 15, he already had the body of a man and was in the same register as today, namely a marriage of speed and power with a desire to revive properly ”, says the one who is now in charge of U13 and U15 at RC Lens.
The day he went to the speech-language pathologist for diction problems
Very quickly Upamecano moved to national U17s where he impressed everyone.
Except that the player is much less comfortable off the field.
Dyslexic, he has great diction problems and speaks very little.
“He had difficulty understanding and speaking.
He was sent to a speech therapist.
But he quickly realized that it was for his own good.
His diction problems made him stay in his shell for a long time especially in adolescence with the cruelty that young people can have to each other.
This is why Dayot was very reserved and did not speak easily in a group, ”says Bijotat.
Franck Triqueneaux, coach of the player in U17, also remembers this introverted boy.
“There was a real gap between what he was on the pitch and in life.
For example, even though he was 15, he watched cartoons about Tiji like my 7-year-old daughters at the time.
Conversely, on a field he was guided by his love of football.
Regardless of the team, he wanted to play every game as a starter, ”said this former VAFC trainer.
The day he almost signed for Manchester United, his club
At the training center, Upamecano always replied "Manchester United" when asked which club his favorite was.
A dream that almost came true in 2015. At the time, the player was already coveted by large European cars, as Franck Triqueneaux reminds us.
I remember a match at Drancy in national U17s.
The opposing coach comes to me and says: “Mash, I don't know what's going on today.
We have received accreditation requests from all the clubs in Europe ”.
There were recruiters from Manchester United, Bayern, Juve, Milan, Liverpool, Arsenal… Everyone was there.
There were as many recruiters as there were spectators ”
But it is in Manchester that the player wants to leave.
In January 2015, in the midst of the winter transfer window, the player, family members and Pierre Wantiez, sports director of the VAFC at the time, left for Old Trafford to discuss with the leaders of Mancun a possible transfer.
James Cooper (Sky): "Upamecano made a name for himself. United looked at him and were impressed with him. He's on a roster, but not for this summer. United are going to watch him for another season. I am pretty sure he won't be coming this summer. "
#MUFC pic.twitter.com/W4iayC2Im5
- Manchester United (@MUnitedFR) September 2, 2020
“Brian McClair, director of the training center, absolutely wanted it but I felt a lot less enthusiasm from the other leaders.
And then there were also agent problems.
It was complicated.
For his part, Dayot listened without saying anything or understanding anything since he did not speak a word of English, ”explains Wantiez, now sports director of Le Havre, to justify the failure of the transfer to England.
The day his transfer causes a scandal at Roissy airport
Injured for a good part of the season during his second year at the VAFC, Upamecano is recovering just before the U17 European Championship where his talent definitely explodes in the face of all the clubs in the world.
After that, everyone wants it.
However, to everyone's surprise, it was at the Austrian club Salzburg, owned by Red Bull, that Upamecano ended up signing in September 2015. "The club went to the highest bidder", summarizes Olivier Bijotat.
Asphyxiated financially after avoiding bankruptcy a few months earlier, VA decided to sell his nugget, which has no pro game, at a high price.
For 2.2 million euros, Salzburg, advised at the time by Gérard Houiller whom Wantiez knows well, ends up winning.
But when the player is about to sign his contract, things get tough.
"People in Dayot's entourage and without agent status tried to derail the case to put it where there would be more money for them", assures a connoisseur of the file.
The rise of Dayot Upamecano!
➡️ Born in Évreux in October 98
➡️ Trained in Évreux and Valenciennes
➡️ Signed pro at RB Salzburg (2.2M €) at 17
➡️ Passed through FC Liefering then returned to RB Salzburg
➡️ Transfer to RB Leipzig (12M €) at 18 .
Undisputed holder.
pic.twitter.com/CKT0zpdTVe
- EspoirsduFootball 💖 (@EspoirsduFoot) March 1, 2018
So much so that a hallucinating scene will occur at Roissy airport when Upamecano's father is about to take the plane to join his son in Salzburg via a stopover in… Munich.
For several days, Bayern has been pushing hard to snatch the player on the line.
An agent therefore shows up at Roisssy airport to change Upamecano father's mind.
Here is the version of the story of Pierre Wantiez, then manager of the VAFC who was not present at the airport: “A French agent, in relation with Bayern, interfered in the file.
He wanted to regain importance by trying to capture the player.
With him, there were also two other intermediaries who were also there to try to convince the father and his entourage.
Finally, a scandal takes place in the departure lounge in the early afternoon.
So much so that the player's signature, which was to take place in the evening, was postponed until the next day.
I even learned later that a car was waiting for Dayot outside the Salzburg training center to take him to Munich just in case.
Until the last moment, people tried to make him change his mind.
"
If Wantiez does not give his name, it is Frédéric Dobraje who was mandated by Bayern.
Asked about the subject two years ago by 20 Minutes, he gave his version of the facts.
"It was quite complicated with the father and the entourage," euphemistically the agent whose mission quickly aborted: "That he refuses to choose Bayern in the end, I can understand.
But that he refuses a meeting… It's incredible!
We do not refuse Bayern ”.
Funny atmosphere around a boy then aged 17 who arouses envy from everywhere.
“When there is money at stake, there are a lot of people involved.
Between the family, the agent, the club which also wants to touch as much money as possible, that's a lot of people, ”summarizes Franck Triqueneaux.
The day when Valenciennes did not negotiate a percentage on resale
Given the dimension taken by the player since, the leaders of the VAFC still have to bite their fingers.
Upamecano's training club, Valenciennes could have negotiated a percentage in the event of the defender's resale to another club.
Except that VA will hardly touch anything on the future transfer.
Blame it on negotiations carried out with a knife to the throat in view of the club's state of finances in July 2015. Pierre Wantiez explains this bizarre choice.
At the time, there were two choices.
Or sell Dayot at a lower amount but with a percentage on resale.
Either sell it for a larger amount in cash.
There was a risk: that it would not be sold immediately when the club needed immediate cash.
Very clearly, the president of the club Eddy Zdziech, who had the final arbitration, made this choice that I share in view of the circumstances of the time ”.
Suddenly, if VA will receive training compensation equivalent to the two years spent at the club by Upamecano, he can not expect more than 1% of the amount of the transfer.
Not expensive paid given the quality of the player that Europe is snapping up.
A feeling of waste even if his trainers are delighted with his career and his career choices.
Our file on the French team
“Players who have great potential but who got lost because of bad choices, there were a lot of them.
Having gone through the structure of Red Bull with several springboard clubs, it allowed him to quickly cross the thresholds to find himself holder in the Bundesliga, to qualify for the Champions League and to end up with the Blues ”, notes Franck Triqueneaux proud of his old colt which VA never really took advantage of.
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