Arsenal: Dayot Upamecano preferring Bayern move sadly unsurprising

Arsenal fans have long swooned over the name Dayot Upamecano, but with the reported revelation of him preferring Bayern, we can’t even be surprised.

To many Arsenal fans, Dayot Upamecano is the ideal central defensive antidote to spare the Gunners from any more horrifying displays on the back end of the pitch. Unfortunately, recent reports from BILD have suggested that the young Frenchman has reportedly agreed personal terms with Bayern Munich, indicating that he prefers a move to the Allianz over the Emirates.

While I, and I’m sure many others, saw the blatant unlikelihood of the transfer coming to fruition, it is still slightly depressing to see such a promising youngster choose another side over us.

Notwithstanding, it is by no means, even slightly surprising that he opted for a move to play with the Bavarians over the reds of London.

Upamecano has had a promising start to life with Leipzig over the past couple of seasons in particular. This, in direct effect, has attracted an abundance of attention. A flurry of European sides were and remain hungry for the talented 21-year-old’s signature. The fact that Upamecano prefers a move to Bayern shows where his ambitions within the game understandably lie.

If the large and in-charge Leipzig man was to move to the Gunners, it would be a more long-term move that he makes to be part of a project than anything else. While Mikel Arteta‘s, Arsenal remains a “project club”, contrarily the reds of Munich are the nearly finished product.

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A number of world-class players are registered to play with Bayern and Upamecano surely finds that enticing. For the last 7 seasons, those world-class players who perform at the Allianz, have helped the side to finish the year with the league title. On the other hand, we have not won the Premier League trophy since the invincible season in 2003-2004 and moreover, have not won a trophy since 2017’s FA cup victory three years ago.

While it is admirable that we Arsenal fans still proclaim ourselves to be amongst the best sides in Europe, the truth is we are far off of the likes of Bayern, Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid. Said clubs will win the signature of coveted players like Upamecano on most occasions given their likelihood of scooping up a trophy or two, season in and season out.

With Arteta at the helm, for the first time in years, the projection of the club does finally appear to be on the rise rather than the decline, however, it will still take a number of years at the very least for us to get back at the level to which the Arsenal belong.

It does, unfortunately, appear as if we’ve missed out on Upamecano, but that ship still has not officially sailed as of yet.  If the powers that be at the club really want him and showcase the fact that they do, maybe there is an outside chance of it happening still. We do apparently have a different knock after all, right? Bayern is apparently showing reluctance to pay the astronomical fee of €60 million, in which Leipzig is asking.

Nonetheless, if the transfer saga ends with the highly thought of, young Frenchman holding up a Bayern shirt with his name at the bottom, rather than an Arsenal one with his name across the top, it may be sad, but it is not the end of the world. Equally talented and potential-ridden stars will continue to pop up, because that is how football works. We must remain patient and above all, hopeful.