Yes, Bayern Munich’s Dayot Upamecano has been in the discussion for the world’s best right center-back for a while now, so don’t let the Arsenal propaganda get to your head.

While William Saliba has been world-class for Arsenal, he also has the best defensive system around him, allowing him to flourish. Having Gabriel Magalhães, Jurrien Timber, and David Raya as supporting cast members has certainly helped his case.

Upamecano, on the other hand? This man does it all alone! He does everything.

With an astounding solo run to score Bayern Munich’s first goal vs. Freiburg, Upamecano kicked off what was one of his most complete performances for the club in recent memory. He was everywhere on defense—carrying the ball up the pitch with the elegance of Beckenbauer, exhibiting the distribution of Pirlo, and showing the defensive clutchness of Maldini. Upamecano was a force to be reckoned with.

The Frenchman deservedly earned his Man of the Match award and, with such quality and consistency over the past two to three seasons, has put all criticisms of his error-proneness and costly glitches well behind him.

This is a new Upa: a center-back who does it all with panache, and a player the opposition truly needs to gameplan for.

“Upamecano, Upamecano, Upamecano, c’est Upamecano Dayot!”