All’s well that ends well? Dayot Upamecano now wants to extend his contract with FC Bayern. Uli Hoeneß also played a crucial role in this.
Munich – The wires between Säbener Straße and the Tegernsee branch were glowing at the beginning of the week because of the transfer poker surrounding Dayot Upamecano: On the one hand, because sports director Max Eberl was sick and with a broken voice from the home office in Rottach-Egern. On the other hand, because, according to tz information, honorary president Uli Hoeneß was also heavily involved in the discussions in his role as supervisory board member from Bad Wiessee.
In several telephone calls, those responsible for the German record champions around Hoeneß, Eberl, President Herbert Hainer, CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen and sports director Christoph Freund came to the following decision on Monday: The existing contract offer from Upamecano will be withdrawn with immediate effect; the Munich management team also informed the players of this decision in writing.
Hamann on Upamecano deal: “An indictment for FC Bayern”
It is not for nothing that the following phrase made the rounds around Upamecano poker in the Bayern boardroom: “No player is irreplaceable!” Visibly impressed by this tough negotiating tactic, the central defender – who has a close relationship with sporting director Freund in particular – sought the conversation in person and explained to the bosses that he now wanted to sign the draft. But at that point the offer was already off the table.
Does Upa now have to beg for his future in Munich? The answer is: no! It is only a matter of time before the draft contract is taken out of the drawer and presented to the player for the final signature (and known conditions). According to tz information, all those responsible agree on this.
While there is no change in the estimated new annual salary of around 20 million euros, the Upamecano consultants have to bite the bullet: They were hoping for a one-off earnest money payment of also 20 million euros. As tz learned, this sum should be “only” a little more than 16 million euros and will be divided over the contract term of five years until 2031.
Sky expert Didi Hamann has his usual clear opinion on FC Bayern’s role in Upamecano poker: “Bayern are passengers in the negotiations. They are led through the ring by the consultants. That’s an indictment!” Why? “If they withdraw the offer, he will not be able to accept an offer because at that point, an hour later, there will be no more. That is an indictment for the club if that was the case,” is Hamann’s argument.
On Säbener Strasse, of course, you see it differently: There the view is that it was primarily Hoeneß’s public, clear-text mode (“I know that he and his family feel very comfortable in Munich. However, I fear that his advisors will do everything they can to steer him away from Munich”) and Eberl (“Now a decision has to be made at some point”) has caused the player to emancipate himself from his advisors. Successfully.
Upamecano benefits from Kompany
Upamecano moved from RB Leipzig to Bayern in the summer of 2021 for more than 40 million euros. Under coach Vincent Kompany, he is one of the top performers and regular players in Munich – and has stabilized his style of play. In recent years he has regularly made crucial mistakes at the top level. Thanks to Kompany, he has developed into one of the top central defenders in Europe – and remains with Bayern. (book, pk, hlr)
