Does Dayot Upamecano Live Up To The Hype? We Take A Look At The Defender Who Chelsea Are Working ‘Very Hard’ To Sign

Chelsea are working “very hard” to secure the signing of RB Leipzig centre-back Dayot Upamecano, according to TZ. The Munich based tabloid claims that the Blues are Bayern Munich’s main competitor for the France international.

The likes of Manchester United, Liverpool, Barcelona and Real Madrid are also thought to be keen, but it does appear that Frank Lampard’s side are the team currently best positioned to be Bayern’s biggest rival for the defender’s signature.

Upamecano’s reputation has risen and risen over the past couple of years following some standout displays in the Bundesliga, but do his statistics really justify the hype surrounding him?

Press the next page as we delve into the numbers and assess the 22-year-old’s performances.

Aerial Duels

The ability to win the ball in the air is an important trait for a centre-back in the Premier League, and Upamecano is certainly not a slouch in this area, having won 66.4% of his aerial battles for Leipzig last season.

The Frenchman may not be quite at Virgil van Dijk’s standards (the Dutchman won 79.9% last season), or even Kurt Zouma (76.7%) but anything above 65% is deemed to be very good for a centre-half.

Tackles And Interceptions

This metric is slightly less well defined. Some defenders are more proactive and others are more passive in this area, but it doesn’t necessarily mean one is better than the other. Upamacano averaged 3.56 tackles & interceptions per 90 last season, which suggests he likes to defend on the front foot.

In contrast, a player like van Dijk doesn’t generally get as involved, making only 1.54 tackles & interceptions per 90 minutes for Liverpool in the 2019/20 campaign.

Passing Accuracy

An area which is becoming increasingly important for a defender is the ability to play it out from the back and Upamecano doesn’t have any issues in this department with an 89.3% pass completion percentage last campaign.

Ironically, this is almost precisely the same figure as Zouma (89.4%) for the 2019/20 season, so Chelsea won’t necessarily be getting an upgrade in this area were Upamecano to be partnered with Thiago Silva.

Errors Leading To Shots

Making mistakes as a defender can be very costly to a team, and the best centre-backs in Europe generally are able to keep errors to a minimum. Upamecano made four errors leading to a shot last season.

If we look at comparisons, van Dijk made the exact same number as the Leipzig defender, while Zouma actually made one fewer.

In summary, then, Upamecano doesn’t exactly have a distinctive quality which makes him stand out as a defender and, while his stats are pretty decent, it is fair to say the hype around him is slightly overblown.

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