MANCHESTER United will fight RB Leipzig for the signature of highly-rated teenager Dayot Upamecano.

The Red Bull Salzburg centre-back, 18, is rated at £6.95million and is wanted by clubs across Europe.

3 Manchester United are interested in Red Bull Salzburg's teenage defender Dayot Upamecano Credit: Getty Images

3 But Jose Mourinho will have competition from sister club RB Leipzig Credit: PA:Press Association

Despite United's interest in the France Under-19 international, they will face heavy competition from Bundesliga title-chasers Leipzig - who have the same ownership group as the Austrian side.

Jose Mourinho is likely to submit a bid for the defender, but Leipzig are expected to have first refusal on the defender.

Another snag is that the defender is thought to prefer a move to Barcelona.

The German club, arguably the most unpopular in the Bundesliga after their meteoric rise in recent seasons, have used Red Bull Salzburg as an important feeder club.

Read SunSport's profile of Dayot Upamecano

The Austrian side were once the main beneficiaries of the Red Bull ownership, but since acquiring Leipzig, their rapid rise to the top of the Bundesliga has been the main priority.

In the last three seasons alone, NINE players have moved from Salzburg to Leipzig - including No 1 goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi and star midfielder Naby Keita.

While United will not be afraid to splash the cash, the Red Bull group will not want to let go of such a talented prospect.

Sporting director Ralf Rangnick remains coy over a move for the French teen.

Who is Dayot Upamecano? Born shortly after France won the 1998 World Cup, Dayot Upamecano is from the small Norman town of Evreux. He joined the local club as an 11-year-old before being snapped up by Ligue 2 club Valenciennes at 15. However, he never played a game for the club before Red Bull Salzburg paid £1.5m for him as a 16-year-old. After spending a year on loan at FC Liefering in the Austrian second tier, this season has been a breakout season for the young centre-back, who is a muscular 6ft 1in. He has started 15 matches for second placed Salzburg, but is yet to score, and another four in the Europa League. At international level, Upamecano has been a regular for French youth teams since 2014. He has won 28 combined caps and played at every level from U16 to U19. He was part of the French squad that won the Under-17 Euros in 2015.

Red Bull in football The multi-billion pound energy drinks giant currently owns four football clubs - two in Europe, one in Brazil and one in the US. Three of their clubs, Sao Paulo, New York and Salzburg, carry the Red Bull name, but Leipzig have to use RB as the German FA has banned clubs naming themselves after companies. The club has enjoyed a meteotric rise in the last seven seasons, with four promotions before taking the Bundesliga season by storm in this campaign. But Leipzig can claim to be the most hated club in the Bundesliga - with the team facing fan protests at rival grounds around Germany this season. The club have got round Germany's strict fan-ownership rules (which states that supporters make up 50 per cent of the club's members, plus one extra member to own a majority). At some points in the recent past RB Leipzig had just nine members - all with ties to the energy drinks company - Borussia Dortmund, in comparison, have almost 150,000 members. Memberships typically cost ten times what they are with other teams and memberships can and have been rejected with no explanation needed. The four clubs have traded players constantly in recent years, with Leipzig now seen as the priority club for Red Bull.

3 Upamecano has been impressive in the Austrian Bundesliga Credit: Reuters

He told Kicker earlier this week: "There are no new facts.

"We can only announce it once there have either been handshakes or contracts have been signed - but that's not the case."

Barcelona, Arsenal, Bayern Munich and Juventus have all been linked with Upamecano.

The 18-year-old has started 15 matches this season for Red Bull Salzburg, who are currently second in the Austrian Bundesliga.