Ever since Austrian defender David Alaba has announced that he will be leaving Bayern Munich at the end of the season in search of a new challenge, there have been plenty of rumours. In this race, FC Barcelona have also joined in and recent reports claimed that they have already agreed terms with the 29-year-old.
However David Alaba’s agent, Pini Zahavi deemed it to be false when he spoke to Goal and SPOX, he said, “That’s not true.” Zahavi has denied any contact with the Catalans and that has added more spice to the story.
A lot has changed at Blaugrana as Joan Laporta has won the election and was elected the club president this weekend. Right after the appointment, there was news of him meeting Zahavi and finalising a deal regarding Alaba. Laporta is keen to drive out the philosophies brought in by former president Josep Bartomeu and he wants to start with improving the squad and bring in reinforcements.
The Catalans went trophyless last season and now Lionel Messi will also be a free agent in the summer. So it is detrimental for Laporta to show some positive actions. Therefore bringing a defender of Alaba’s quality may convince the Argentinian that the club is in the right hands.
Alaba has had a great career at Bayern Munich where he has had a trophy-laden stint. He has also been a part of both treble-winning seasons. Last season he helped Hansi Flick’s men to bag the sextuple. So currently he is in great form and therefore a lot of clubs are eager to sign him in the summer.
However, the favourites in this race are Real Madrid as it is pretty clear that Alaba would only leave Bayern to join a club that will also fight to the domestic title and go deep in the Champions League every season. Other teams like Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Paris Saint Germain and Juventus have all shown interest in the 29-year-old versatile defender.
For now, Barcelona are quite behind in the pecking order and even Alaba’s agent has claimed it to be false. Therefore his chances of joining the Catalan side is pretty low. However, if Laporta wants he may try and lure the Austrian by handing him a project where he will get the chance to play with Lionel Messi. But it looks very unlikely for now at least.
