Bayern Munich are still in contract extension talks with Dayot Upamecano, with the French centre-back yet to sign a new contract with the German record master. Over the course of the season, there have been back-and-forth discussions between the club and Upamecano’s representatives over a number of details, including the wage structure, the length of the proposed extension and the existence of a release clause in the new contract.
Bayern have reportedly given Upamecano a deadline of mid-February to decide whether he is willing to accept the club’s latest offer, which is said to include a release clause worth €65 million in a four-year deal. Reports also suggest that Bayern are not prepared to raise their offer any further, and the ball is indeed in Upamecano’s court at this point, with it essentially being a “take it or leave it” stage for the defender. As it stands, his existing contract with Bayern will expire on June 30 this year until he agrees to renew or decides to leave on a free transfer this summer; for Bayern, the situation is even worse.
advertise
Centre-back Jonathan Tah came up for his defensive partner at a press conference ahead of the Champions League tie against PSV, saying he hopes the Frenchman can extend his stay at Bayern. “Dayot is someone I like very much, both on and off the pitch. The way he welcomed me into the team was special. Of course, I want him to stay and extend his contract. I tell him 100 times every day. He feels comfortable and knows what he has here,” the former Bayer Leverkusen player explained (via @iMiaSanMia).
In the centre-back pairing of Upamecano and Tah, Vincent Kompany’s preferred centre-back pairing, the Belgian manager has found something that works extremely well at the heart of Bayern’s defence, and losing one of Upamecano could prove costly if he decides not to sign a new deal. Bayern has struggled in the past when they lost David Alaba to Real Madrid on a free transfer, with center backs such as Matthijs de Ligt, Eric Dier and Benjamin Pavard coming and going since then, as well as Lucas Hernandez, who joined the club in 2019 and moved to PSG in 2023 after an injury-plagued spell in Munich.
