Discussions
Bellingham "Dyer is better than Upamecano!" → Chuameni "Please...not really" debate
Real Madrid players debate whether Eric Dier or Dayo Upamecano is a better player.
"Real Madrid stars have argued over Bayern Munich players," German outlet FCBinsider reported on April 22.
Aurélien Chouameni said: "We talked about Dybala and Upamecano. Jude Bellingham spoke about Dyer and I spoke about Upamecano," the report said.
Bellingham praised Dyer. Bellingham said, "Dyer is an unbelievable guy. He's better than Upamecano," to which Chuameni replied, "No, no, no. No, please, no, no," Chouameni replied. Bellingham backed his England teammate Dyer, while Chouameni backed his French teammate Upamecano.
Dyer is a longtime Tottenham Hotspur center back. Dier first came to prominence as a defensive midfielder. His good physicality and kicking ability made him influential in the middle of the park and earned him a call-up to the England national team. However, when he moved to center back, his problems became apparent. Dyer's slow feet and poor judgment became Spurs' weaknesses. As Dyer continued to start, the Spurs defense was shaky at every turn.
The arrival of Enze Postecoglou this season has narrowed Dyer's role. Postecoglou has used Micky van der Vaan and Cristian Romero as his first-choice center backs, with Dyer on the bench. Even when van der Vaan and Romero were injured at the same time, he used a fullback instead of Dyer.
Dyer's chance came. Bayern Munich, in need of reinforcements at center back and defensive midfield, signed him on loan. Dyer was expected to be a backup, but recently he even pushed Kim Min-Jae out of the starting center back role. However, he still looked shaky defensively.
Upamecano has been considered a good center back since his time at Leipzig. He has good athleticism, speed, and physicality to compete with his opponents. He"s also very good on his feet, which is why many teams were interested in signing him.
The winner of the bidding war was Munich. In the 2021-22 season, Upamecano wore the jersey of Munich. Upamecano was a solid defender for the Bavarians, but he made some costly mistakes in the second half of the season. With the arrival of Kim Min-Jae to Munich this season, many expected Upamecano to be relegated to the bench, but he was chosen by Thomas Tuchel and has flourished as a starter.