David Alaba is the new jewel that everyone wants. The Austrian has been one of the stars of Bayern since 2011, after making his debut and playing hard on loan for a season at Hoffenheim. He started out as a winger with great travel and offensive ability and, as the years went by, he added more and more records to his game.
At 28 years old, the full-back is in one of the best moments of his career and has been a star in the Flick machine but his future for the next season is uncertain. The defender entered at the beginning of the season in his last year of contract with open negotiations to renew. Alaba wanted to stay and Bayern continue to count on him. Everything fitted, except for the financial claims of the player in a budget affected by the pandemic caused by Covid-19. They both tightened the rope until it broke. From their offices they staged the break without shame. “We present you a very good and fair offer, especially considering the current times.. We told Alaba's agent during our recent meeting that we would like to have a response by the end of October. We need to be able to plan in such an important position. We didn't hear from him until Saturday. Our sports director, Hasan Salihamidzic, contacted his agent and the response was that the offer was still not satisfying and that we should think more about it. So, we decided to withdraw the offer completely “, assured Herbert Hainer, president of the Bavarian club, in an interview with BR. No offer to renew, The Viennese will be able to negotiate with any club that wants to from January for next season and there are many who want him to wear his shirt.
Real Madrid has him on their list. The whites have Mendy and Marcelo for the left back but they understand that the opportunity to sign such a player without paying a transfer does not appear every day. First, because of the level it can offer at a relatively affordable cost, and secondly, because its versatility allows the reinforcement to be for the complete rear and not only for the lateral, being able to act as lateral and third central. The investment finds few cons but for which they need to think carefully about the numbers in the White House.
Of course, although he fits into Real Madrid and they will launch to hire him, the whites will have to face a titanic duel to take him away. As they point out from Germany, Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Manchester City have already specified their interest in the Bayern player for whom Liverpool is also asking although the preferences of this go through the two giants of LaLiga. Praise, they explain, I would prefer to stop at Real Madrid or Barcelona.
Salary demands will mark the negotiation with the defender. Although he denied the amounts in public, from Bavaria they point out that Alaba was asking for about 12 million euros per season, a figure that he demanded from Bayern and that could be higher in case of ending up in a new club. In a time of budget cuts and adjustments, the Vienna man asks for a star salary and it remains to be seen who can pay him. Given the situation, Barcelona have already had to get out of the bidding and Madrid will think about it more than once, since it would be at the top of the salary scale and the number one priority is Mbappé.
How would Alaba fit in with her suitors?
As we said, his versatility to play as a wing, center, middle or even extreme if necessary make Alaba fit easily in almost any great in Europe. In Liverpool he would meet with an old rival like Klopp and would enter like a glove in a team with a dizzying pace but that faces real defensive traps every week. A dynamic quite similar to the one that lives in Bavaria and where he could adapt without problem as a central or middle, since it seems difficult to move Alexander-Arnold or Robertson.
At Juventus, it would raise the demand for the left lane, which does not have an occupant of its level. Pirlo has tested Cuadrado, Frabotta and even Bernardeschi in his 3-5-2, names that seem far from the performance that is understood to the Viennese. As a winger with the ability to play towards the center or overflow on the wing, he would give an offensive boost to the team and he would not have to have without too much concern about what is behind him. All together with Cristiano, Dybala, Chiesa and company.
If he decides to go to Etihad, it is reasonable to think that Guardiola will place him as a center-back, that position in which he has invested so much without success and to which he himself converted him into Bayern, and in Paris he would compete with Bernat and Kurzawa for a position in which he has been looking for reinforcement for a long time, although with Tuchel obsessed with Marquinhos as a midfielder he could also play central games. Everything, of course, if the German continues. The auction is already underway and the Viennese will be able to choose who he considers his highest bidder for a new experience in the European elite.