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Tottenham beating Arsenal to complete this £40m deal would show their power in North London

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Why Tottenham beating Arsenal to Dayot Upamecano would be a real coup

According to Football.London, Tottenham Hotspur have joined the race to sign highly-rated RB Leipzig centre-back Dayot Upamecano, who had been heavily linked with a move to North London rivals Arsenal in the summer. 

As per claims from German publication Bild (h/t Football.London), Arsenal put an offer of €60million on the table in the summer to prise Upamecano away from the Bundesliga, only for RB Leipzig to point to the defender’s mammoth £92million release clause. (Mirror h/t Football London)

The 21-year-old’s release clause is set to be lowered next summer, with no signs of a breakthrough in contract talks between the club and the Frenchman, who is out of contract in the summer of 2021. (h/t Football.London)

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Dayot Upamecano is widely regarded as one of the best rising centre-backs in Europe (Getty Images)

French outlet L’Equipe (h/t Football.London) has revealed that Upamecano’s release clause is set to be reduced drastically to just €60million in 2020 if the defender stalls on putting pen to paper on fresh terms at RB Leipzig. 

Ironically, though, according to Sun (h/t Football.London), a bid of around £40million could be enough to snare the youngster away from Leipzig, who are very much aware of the risk of losing their prized asset for absolutely nothing in 2021.

Indeed, that has now made Dayot Upamecano a more affordable target for Arsenal, as they look to find an answer to solve their ongoing defensive crisis.

The Gunners could, however, face stiff competition from Tottenham, who are now set to go head-to-head with their North London neighbours in a transfer tug-of-war over the defensive giant. 

Despite coming out of their miserly habits to splash the cash on the likes of Tanguy Ndombele, Ryan Sessegnon and Giovani Lo Celso in the summer, Spurs are yet to reap the benefits of their heavy spending spree, with the Lilywhites languishing 14th in the Premier League standings after 12 rounds. 

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The 21-year-old has been on the radar or Arsenal for a long time (Getty Images)

According to Metro (h/t Daily Mail), the Argentinian has hinted at another major transfer spree in January in an attempt to save the club from the ignominy of a horror season in the Premier League. 

While bringing in attacking reinforcements should once again be a top priority, Pochettino would be wise enough to run the rule over some of his defensive targets as well, with the Lilywhites yet to replace Kieran Trippier. 

To add to that, the likes of Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen, who have been the mainstays of the club’s central defence for several years, are out of contract next summer, thus epitomising the need for a new centre-back in the ranks to cope with the potential departure of the ageing duo. 

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Tottenham have now joined the race to sign Dayot Upamecano (Getty Images)

Hence, Tottenham’s interest in Dayot Upamecano, who has been profiled by Football.London as a ‘big, strong central defender with pace to burn’,  doesn’t come as a big surprise to the club faithful.

Verdict

Young, talented and with plenty of room for improvement in the years to come, Upamecano is right up there with the best up and coming centre-backs in Europe at the moment. His massive potential means that the 21-year-old could well prove to be an incredible long-term investment for Spurs, who have been shipping goals at an alarming rate this season. 

As per whoscored, Upamecano boasts of a pass success rate of 88.3% in the Bundesliga, including 4 successful long balls, 2.4 tackles and 3 clearances per game, figures which speak volumes of his technical abilities on the ball, as well as his proficiency in thwarting the opposition with well-timed tackles. 

Additionally, the 21-year-old has won 11 out of 14 duels in the air in the Bundesliga this season, amounting to a success rate of 78.57%, numbers which are very encouraging for a young and developing centre-back. 

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Credits: Getty Images

It is a no-brainer that Spurs need to move away from the likes of Alderweireld and Vertonghen, given that they are on the wrong side of 30 and very much approaching the autumn of their careers in the Premier League with their contract at Tottenham running out soon. 

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All in all, Upamecano looks like the real deal and completing a move for him could sort out Tottenham’s defensive woes once and for all.