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 | ||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Dayotchanculle Oswald Upamecano[1] | |||||||||||||||
Date of birth | (1998-10-27) 27 October 1998 (age 23)[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 | 37 | (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 | 7 | (1) | |||||||||||||
Honours
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:24, 8 October 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 25 September 2022 |
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]
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]
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]
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]
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]
Club | Season | League | National Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
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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 | 28 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 5] | 0 | 38 | 1 |
2022–23 | Bundesliga | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 5] | 0 | 14 | 0 | |
Total | 37 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 52 | 1 | ||
Career total | 184 | 5 | 14 | 0 | 47 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 246 | 5 |
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
France | 2020 | 3 | 1 |
2021 | 3 | 0 | |
2022 | 1 | 0 | |
Total | 7 | 1 |
No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
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1 | 8 September 2020 | Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France | 2 | ![]() | 3–2 | 4–2 | 2020–21 UEFA Nations League A |
Bayern Munich
France U17
France
Individual
FC Bayern Munich – current squad | |
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