RB Leipzig manager Julian Nagelsmann wasn’t pleased with Bayern Munich’s timing in announcing they’d be signing Dayot Upamecano

It was confirmed yesterday by Bayern Munich sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic that they would be signing Dayot Upamecano from RB Leipzig this summer on a five-year deal. There still hasn’t been an official announcement from the club, but in the press conference ahead of Leipzig’s 2-1 win over Augsburg, Julian Nagelsmann expressed his frustration at the timing of the announcement from Salihamidzic (Marca).

Of course, it was no secret that Bayern was in pole position to sign Upamecano, as both Liverpool and Chelsea were also heavily interested in acquiring his services, but Nagelsmann didn’t take too kindly when he was asked about the subject. “Regarding Upamecano, it is indeed the case that Bayern confirmed the transfer. We did not confirm anything, so you will have to ask them. My team and were focused on today’s game, even 20 minutes before. So other things did not matter. I know that Upa has a release clause for this summer, so I know that it is not our decision, but the player’s,” he explained.

What he said last was perhaps the most telling as to the level of frustration he felt at the time, which was not long before their match against Augsburg at the RedBull Arena kicked off. “You have to ask the people who have to make an announcement 20 minutes before a Bundesliga match. I was only focused on Augsburg and I am happy with our overall performance today.”

It’s clear that he wasn’t happy to be asked about the matter while he was trying to focus on the Augsburg match and that he was peeved that Bayern’s camp would choose to release the information to the press so close to their kickoff. It’s highly unlikely that the timing from Bayern’s perspective was 100% intentional or that they meant anything psychological by it in terms of effecting Leipzig. It was more of a coincidence than anything else and clearly it didn’t prevent Leipzig from collecting three points over Augsburg. To be fair to Bayern, journalists might have pressed the issue to Salihamidzic and other representatives from the club, trying to pry the information out of them, but what’s done is done and Nagelsmann had a right to be irritated.

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