- 29 Dec 2024
Man Utd transfer target Tapsoba “not for sale” claims Leverkusen boss
Stefan Bienkowski
- Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
- 7 min read
Bayer Leverkusen’s young defender Edmond Tapsoba will not be for sale this summer, according to the club’s sporting director.
Tapsoba made the move to the Bundesliga in January 2020, when he signed from Portuguese side Vitoria Guimares for a reported fee of €18 million.
Since then the 22-year-old talent has quickly nailed down a starting role in Peter Bosz’s Leverkusen side and established himself as one of the Bundesliga’s most exciting prospects.
So far this season, Tapsoba’s performances have reportedly attracted interest from some of Europe’s biggest clubs, including Manchester United, Juventus and Barcelona.
However, when asked about the apparent interest and whether Tapsoba’s time at Leverkusen may already be approaching an end, Leverkusen’s sporting director Simon Rolfes was immediately dismissive.
“I am not surprised that Eddy’s quality arouses interest. But the player is not for sale,” the Leverkusen boss told German newspaper BILD.
Could Tapsoba move to Man Utd this summer?
Rolfes comments undoubtedly suggest that the Bundesliga side would be far from happy to see Tapsoba leave the club this summer, but Leverkusen, perhaps more than most in Germany, are well aware that every player has his price.
Considering Man Utd’s need for a long-term central defensive partner alongside Harry Maguire next season, Tapsoba could prove to be a smart and rather shrewd signing if they can pull it off before the start of next season.
However, the Burkina Faso international wouldn’t come cheap. Not only would Leverkusen demand considerably more than the €18 million they spent on bringing Topsoba to Germany little over a year ago, but they’d also take into account that the defender has no minimum fee release clause and has a contract with the club until 2026.
This could then prove a problem for the Premier League club and see Tapsoba’s price tag balloon into the kind of fees Man Utd would be expected to pay for some of the other, but perhaps more well-known, defensive targets they’ve been linked with recently. Either way, it’s unlikely the Leverkusen target would be cheap this summer.
