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.

Dayotchanculle Oswald Upamecano was born on 27 October 1998 in Évreux, Normandy and is of Bissau-Guinean descent.

He was raised in La Madeleine, a neighbourhood with many African immigrants.

He was named after his great-grandfather, who was king of the village on the island of Jeta in Guinea-Bissau, where his parents are from.

His mother is Senegalese.

He is the first son after four daughters, and has one younger brother.

He acquired French nationality on 19 November 2002, through the collective effect of his mother's naturalization.

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.

Upamecano began playing football with local club Évreux, alongside the likes of Ousmane Dembélé, Rafik Guitane and Samuel Grandsir.

He covered a variety of positions in his youth, before being fixed on the centre-back position.

He joined the youth academy of Valenciennes in 2013.

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.

Upamecano played for the France under-16 team that finished third in the 2014 Aegean Cup.

He played in three of his country's four games and was named the competition's best defender.

He subsequently moved up to the France under-17 squad, making his debut in a European Championship qualifier against Cyprus on 27 October 2014.

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.

He was an unused substitute in Red Bull's UEFA Champions League game against Malmö FF on 29 July 2015.

He made his professional debut for Red Bull's farm team, FC Liefering, two days later, in a 2–1 league win against St. Pölten.

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.

He made his debut for France under-18 in a 0–0 friendly draw with United States under-18 on 4 September 2015.

On 19 March 2016, he made his league debut with Red Bull Salzburg in a 2–1 win over SV Mattersburg.

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.

On 13 January 2017, Upamecano joined RB Leipzig on a 4 1⁄2-year deal, for a reported €10 million fee.

On 4 February 2017, he made his Bundesliga debut under coach Ralph Hasenhüttl in a 1–0 defeat against Borussia Dortmund.

On 13 September 2017, he made his Champions League debut in a 1–1 draw against Monaco.

On 9 February 2018, he scored his first goal in a 2–0 win over Augsburg.

On 2 July 2018, he was shortlisted for the 2018 Golden Boy award.

In the 2019–20 season, he reached with RB Leipzig the Champions League semi-finals under coach Julian Nagelsmann.

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.

The club reportedly met his release clause from Leipzig, set at €42.5 million.

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.

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.

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.

During the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League, Bayern defeated Upamecano's France compatriot Kylian Mbappé's Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16, only for them to be eliminated by a 4–1 defeat on aggregate to Manchester City in the quarter-finals, in which Upamecano's performances were heavily criticised.

On 4 November 2023, he scored his first goal of the 2023–24 season in the fourth minute of a 4–0 away win over Borussia Dortmund.

In February 2024, Upamecano was sent off twice in the span of four days: on 14 February, he received his first straight red card in the Champions League during the round of 16 first leg away match against Lazio, which resulted in a penalty kick and a 1–0 defeat; on 18 February, he received two yellow cards and again conceded a penalty in a 3–2 loss to Bochum in the Bundesliga.

On 31 July 2020, Upamecano signed a new deal until 2023.

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.

Three days later on 8 September, he scored his first international goal in a 4–2 win against Croatia.

Upamecano played a pivotal role in France's 2022 FIFA World Cup, starting five of France's seven matches.