Dayot Upamecano
Dayotchanculle Oswald Upamecano (born 27 October 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the France national team.
![]() Upamecano with RB Leipzig in 2020 | ||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Dayotchanculle Oswald Upamecano[1] | |||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 27 October 1998[2] | |||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Évreux, France | |||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[3] | |||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | |||||||||||||||
| Club information | ||||||||||||||||
Current team | Bayern Munich | |||||||||||||||
| Number | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||||||||||
| 2004–2007 | Vaillante S. Angers | |||||||||||||||
| 2008–2009 | FC De Prey | |||||||||||||||
| 2009–2013 | Évreux | |||||||||||||||
| 2013–2015 | Valenciennes | |||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | Liefering | 16 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | Red Bull Salzburg | 17 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2017–2021 | RB Leipzig | 112 | (4) | |||||||||||||
| 2021– | Bayern Munich | 25 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| National team‡ | ||||||||||||||||
| 2014 | France U16 | 3 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | France U17 | 12 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2015–2016 | France U18 | 10 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| 2016–2017 | France U19 | 6 | (0) | |||||||||||||
| 2018–2021 | France U21 | 16 | (1) | |||||||||||||
| 2020– | France | 6 | (1) | |||||||||||||
Honours
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:24, 23 April 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 22:07, 16 November 2021 (UTC) | ||||||||||||||||
Early years
Upamecano was born on 27 October 1998 in Évreux, Normandy to a family from Guinea-Bissau; he was raised in La Madeleine, a neighbourhood with many African immigrants.[4][5] He was named after his great-grandfather, who was king of the village on the island of Jeta in Guinea-Bissau, which his parents are from.[6] He is the first son after four daughters, and has one younger brother.[5] As a 15-year-old, he followed speech therapy sessions to overcome dyslexia and stuttering disorders, which caused shyness and certain difficulties in expressing himself.[6]
Upamecano began playing football with local club Évreux, alongside the likes of Ousmane Dembélé, Rafik Guitane and Samuel Grandsir.[5] He covered a variety of positions in his youth, before being fixed on the centre-back position.[5] He joined the youth academy of Valenciennes in 2013.[7] Described during the time as a youth in an adult body, Upamecano shaped his play after Sergio Ramos, and developed into a physically imposing defender.[5]
Club career
Red Bull Salzburg

After attracting the attention of a number of major European clubs, including Manchester United, Upamecano joined Red Bull Salzburg in July 2015 for a reported fee of €2.2 million.[8] He was an unused substitute in Red Bull's UEFA Champions League game against Malmö FF on 29 July 2015.[9] He made his professional debut for Red Bull's farm team, Liefering, two days later, in a 2–1 league win against St. Pölten.[10] On 19 March 2016, he made his league debut with Red Bull Salzburg in a 2–1 win over SV Mattersburg.[11]
In the first half of the 2016–17 season, Upamecano earned a regular place with the first team in both league and Europa League matches.[12]
RB Leipzig
On 13 January 2017, Upamecano joined RB Leipzig on a 4+1⁄2-year deal, for a reported €10 million fee.[13] On 4 February 2017, he made his Bundesliga debut under coach Ralph Hasenhüttl in a 1–0 defeat against Borussia Dortmund.[7] On 13 September 2017, he made his Champions League debut in a 1–1 draw against Monaco.[14] On 9 February 2018, he scored his first goal in a 2–0 win over Augsburg.[15] On 2 July 2018, he was shortlisted for the 2018 Golden Boy award.[16]
On 31 July 2020, Upamecano signed a new deal until 2023.[17] In the 2019–20 season, he reached with RB Leipzig the Champions League semi-finals under coach Julian Nagelsmann.[18]
Bayern Munich
On 14 February 2021, Bayern Munich announced an agreement for the signing of Upamecano on a five-year deal, to be effective as of 1 July 2021.[19] The club reportedly met his release clause from Leipzig, set at €42.5 million.[20][21] Upamecano's first game as a Bayern player came in a pre-season friendly on 16 July 2021 against fellow Bundesliga side 1. FC Köln that saw Bayern lose 3–2 after fielding a side largely consisting of reserve and youth players.[22][23]
He made his competitive debut on the opening day of the 2021–22 Bundesliga season, starting at centre-back alongside Niklas Süle in a 1–1 away draw against Borussia Mönchengladbach.[24] He scored his first goal for the club in a 4–0 win over VfL Wolfsburg on 17 December, heading in a cross from Thomas Müller.[25]
International career
Upamecano is of Bissau-Guinean descent.[4] He played for the France under-16 team that finished third in the 2014 Aegean Cup.[26] He played in three of his country's four games and was named the competition's best defender.[27][28] He subsequently moved up to the France under-17 squad, making his debut in a European Championship qualifier against Cyprus on 27 October 2014.[27] France won the 2015 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, with Upamecano playing in all six of his country's matches and being named in the team of the tournament.[29][30] He made his debut for France under-18 in a 0–0 friendly draw with United States under-18 on 4 September 2015.[31]
Upamecano made his debut for the France national football team, on 5 September 2020, starting in a UEFA Nations League group-stage match against Sweden.[32] Three days later on 8 September, he scored his first international goal in a 4–2 win against Croatia.[33]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 23 April 2022[34]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Liefering | 2015–16 | Austrian First League | 16 | 0 | — | — | — | 16 | 0 | |||
| Red Bull Salzburg | 2015–16 | Austrian Bundesliga | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |
| 2016–17 | Austrian Bundesliga | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | — | 21 | 0 | ||
| Total | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | 23 | 0 | |||
| RB Leipzig | 2016–17 | Bundesliga | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | Bundesliga | 28 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 11[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | — | 41 | 3 | ||
| 2018–19 | Bundesliga | 15 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | — | 22 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20 | Bundesliga | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | — | 38 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21 | Bundesliga | 29 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 7[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | — | 41 | 1 | ||
| Total | 112 | 4 | 12 | 0 | 30 | 0 | — | 154 | 4 | |||
| Bayern Munich | 2021–22 | Bundesliga | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 5] | 0 | 36 | 1 |
| Career total | 172 | 5 | 14 | 0 | 43 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 229 | 5 | ||
- One appearance in UEFA Champions League, four appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Appearances in UEFA Champions League
- Appearance in DFL-Supercup
International
- As of match played 16 November 2021[34]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| France | 2020 | 3 | 1 |
| 2021 | 3 | 0 | |
| Total | 6 | 1 | |
- As of match played 16 November 2021.
- Scores and results list the France's goal tally first. Score column indicates score after each Upamecano goal[34]
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 September 2020 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France | 2 | 3–2 | 4–2 | 2020–21 UEFA Nations League A |
Honours
Bayern Munich
France U17
France
Individual
- UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2015[37]
- UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season: 2019–20[38]
- ESM Team of the Year: 2019–20[39]
References
- "Dayot Upamecano". Bundesliga. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- "Dayot Upamecano: Overview". ESPN. Retrieved 6 September 2021.
- "Dayot Upamecano". FC Bayern Munich. Retrieved 16 July 2021.
- "Dayot Upamecano, l'autre Français de Leipzig". leprogres.fr. Retrieved 6 May 2018.
- Jucha, Nicolas (2 March 2019). "Dayot Upamecano: J'ai toujours eu un corps d'adulte". SOFOOT.com (in French).
- Crépin, Timothé (15 May 2020). "Dayot Upamecano (RB Leipzig), la douce puissance". France Football (in French). Archived from the original on 18 August 2020.
- "Dayot Upamecano: The RB Leipzig defender with the world at his assured feet". Bundesliga. 2018.
- "Manchester United target Dayot Upamecano signs for FC Red Bull Salzburg". International Business Times. 11 July 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- "Red Bull Salzburg 2–0 Malmö FF". Eurosport. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- "FC Liefering gewinnt zu neunt gegen St. Pölten" (in German). FC Red Bull Salzburg. 31 July 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- "Salzburg 2–1 Mattersburg". Soccerway. 19 March 2016.
- "Europas Wunderkinder: Dayot Upamecano" (in German). UEFA. 13 January 2017.
- "RB Leipzig sign Dayot Upamecano from Red Bull Salzburg". Goal.com. 13 January 2017.
- "Leipzig 1–1 Monaco". UEFA. 2018.
- "Verdienter Erfolg von RB gegen Augsburg". Sky Sport (in German). 10 February 2018.
- "Pulisic, Upamecano and more: Meet the Bundesliga's 5 Golden Boy nominations for 2018". Bundesliga. 2018.
- "Arsenal dealt major blow as transfer target signs new RB Leipzig contract". Talksport. 31 July 2020.
- "RB Leipzig 0–3 Paris Saint-Germain UEFA Champions League semi-final: as it happened!". Bundesliga. 2020.
- "FC Bayern sign Dayot Upamecano". FC Bayern Munich. 14 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
- "Upamecano's €42.5m release clause confirmed with Bayern target to choose between Bundesliga and Premier League". Goal.com. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
- "Bayern Munich confirm Dayot Upamecano signing". ESPN. 14 February 2021. Retrieved 14 February 2021.
- "Bayern boss Nagelsmann won't panic over transfer activity". Goal.com. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- TomAdams71 (18 July 2021). "Dayot Upamecano had "good feelings" during his Bayern Munich debut in 3–2 friendly loss vs. FC Koln". Bavarian Football Works. Retrieved 23 July 2021.
- "Lewandowski sets opening-day record". BBC Sport. 13 August 2021. Archived from the original on 13 August 2021.
- "Lewandowski breaks Muller goals record". BBC Sport. 17 December 2021. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021.
- "Dayot Upamecano: Who is the Man Utd, Man City and Arsenal target?". Sky Sports. 2 June 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- "Dayot Upamecano" (in French). French Football Federation. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- "USA win 2014 Mercedes-Benz Aegean Cup". Turkish Football Federation. 26 January 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- "Dayot Upamecano". UEFA. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- "Team of the Tournament". UEFA. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- "France – Etats-Unis" (in French). French Football Federation. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- UEFA.com. "Sweden-France | Line-ups | UEFA Nations League". UEFA. Retrieved 5 September 2020.
- "France 4–2 Croatia: Les Bleus win replay of 2018 World Cup final". Yahoo! Sports. 8 September 2020.
- "D. Upamecano". Soccerway. Retrieved 1 October 2016.
- "Robert Lewandowski double as Bayern Munich overcome Borussia Dortmund to win the Supercup". Bundesliga Official. Bundesliga. Archived from the original on 16 August 2021. Retrieved 11 October 2021.
- "France beat Spain to win Nations League". UEFA. 10 October 2021. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
- "Team of the Tournament". UEFA. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
- "UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season". UEFA. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
- "ESM reveal Team of the Year for 2019/20". Marca. 31 August 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
External links
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dayot Upamecano. |
- Dayot Upamecano at the French Football Federation (in French)
- Dayot Upamecano – UEFA competition record (archive)
- Dayot Upamecano – FIFA competition record (archived)
