Arsenal and Tottenham are set for a bidding war over RB Leipzig star defender Dayot Upamecano. Express Sport understands that the Gunners and Spurs are willing to meet Leipzig’s whopping £50million valuation for Upamecano ahead of the January transfer window to strengthen their respective defences as they eye a top-four finish.

I have seen him [Dayot Upamecano] play and he is big, strong, quick and aggressive – everything that our defence isn’t

The centre-back has been outstanding at Leipzig over the past couple of seasons in the Bundesliga as well as the Champions League and has also been targeted by Manchester City.

City are in dire need of quality in defence after failing to replace legendary captain Vincent Kompany in the summer and losing Aymeric Laporte to injury soon after.

Arsenal’s backline has also been in disarray throughout the campaign as the north Londoners’ centre-back pairing of Sokratis Papastathopoulos and David Luiz has been performing far below the level required.

The Emirates outfit have also conceded 28 goals in 19 Premier League matches - a return which has seen them slump to 12th place in the table.

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