Real Madrid Leading Barcelona in Race for Bayern's David Alaba
By Tom Gott
Bayern Munich defender David Alaba would prefer a move to either Barcelona or Real Madrid if he leaves Germany in the near future, but it is the latter who are thought to have the best chance of signing him.
Alaba has entered the final year of his contract at the Allianz Arena and has rejected a number of offers from Bayern, with the player's representatives reportedly unsatisfied with the latest offer. However, the figures of the European champions' offer are disputed.
When that news broke, Christian Falk revealed that Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus and Manchester City have all expressed an interest in the 28-year-old, but Alaba himself only has eyes for either Barcelona or Real Madrid.
However, Marca are quick to rule out a potential move to Camp Nou. Barcelona would like to sign the Austrian, but his high wage demands would make any deal impossible, irrespective of the fact that he would be signed for free.
Alaba is said to be looking for close to £11m per season, but Barcelona's sky-high wage bill means they would not be able to come anywhere close to that. Unless some big names leave, Alaba is not expected to move to Barcelona.
Alaba: “disappointed and hurt" that salary figures reported in the media, ref contract negotiations, were not officially denied. Alaba adamant that the numbers quoted are not true. Good thread ?? https://t.co/32bax4hWS9
— Chris Williams (@Chris78Williams) November 2, 2020
That leaves long-term admirers Real. AS note that Alaba is on Los Blancos' shortlist of potential signings to reinforce the defence, and the player's entourage have offered him to Real on a number of occasions in the past.
Real have always been reluctant to pursue a deal as they believed Bayern would demand an enormous transfer fee, but now that his contract is winding down, there is an awareness that he could be signed for 'cheap'.
Alaba had remained tight-lipped about his future, but recently spoke out to vent his frustrations towards Bayern's leaking of the situation to the media, and he admitted that he 'cannot say' what the future holds.
"The way I've been portrayed over the last couple of months, the way Bayern want to portray me, I can understand fans are frustrated with me. I wish internal stuff would stay internal," Alaba said (via The Mirror).
"If people depict me as the way Bayern Munich have, which isn't true, I understand why people are frustrated. I can guarantee to every fan these numbers going through the media are false.
"In the last couple of months I was disappointed and a little hurt these numbers were never corrected by the club, these numbers were always passed on to the press, so of course I was frustrated that Bayern never said anything about the numbers in the media but there you go, what can you do?"