Bayern Munich centre-back David Alaba looks set to leave the Allianz Arena this summer with a whole host of clubs interested in signing the 28-year-old.
The Austria international joined Bayern from Austria Wien’s academy in 2008, making 419 games since joining the German champions and will be available to sign for his next club on a free transfer, due to his contract expiring in the summer.
Real Madrid are firm favourites to sign Alaba, with the likes of Fabrizio Romano reporting that the Austrian has already received the paperwork and terms for the deal to take place.
The 28-year-old would be the ideal signing for Real, as due to the likes of Sergio Ramos’ contract expiring in the summer, Los Blancos will need to find a replacement, as their captain looks to potentially end his 16 year stay at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Zinedine Zidane’s side also look as though they could be running the risk of losing Raphael Varane too, as the French centre-back will only have 12 months left on his current deal at Real once the summer hits, meaning that signing Alaba on a free transfer could actually save the Spanish giants a hefty chunk of money on a second centre-back in a tough financial climate.
Barcelona are also rumoured to be interested in signing Alaba, as new recently re-appointed club president Joan Laporta looks to re-build the club which he oversaw win the treble under Pep Guardiola in 2009.
Signing Alaba would be helpful for Barca who are struggling financially at present due to the economic climate, meaning that they would save themselves on a big transfer fee. It would also give them more pace down the spine of their team, which is essentially what they are lacking, as it is something which PSG took advantage of when they beat Barca 4-1 in the Champions League at the Nou Camp last month.
Alaba’s versatility is a very useful trait, as he can play at left-back, a position which Barca have very little cover for behind Jordi Alba, as well as defensive midfield, which would give the Catalan club a different option.
Barcelona are priced at 4/1 to sign Alaba from Bayern this summer.
Thomas Tuchel’s Chelsea have also been linked with a move for David Alaba, as the German manager looks to build on his impressive start to life at Stamford Bridge.
Alaba would be the perfect fit at Chelsea in the 3-4-3 system that Tuchel tends to use, as he is a good ball player with excellent positional sense and would suit the left-centre-back role next to Thiago Silva due to his pace and versatility which would essentially make Chelsea’s system more fluent.
Paris Saint-Germain are the final team to be included on this list, as the French side still haven’t replaced Thiago Silva since the Brazilian was allowed to leave the club to join Chelsea on a free transfer last summer.
As well as not replacing their former captain, Alaba is widely regarded as a better player than PSG left-back Juan Bernat, which would help to improve the French champions in an area in which they are weak, as Bernat’s backup is 20-year-old Dutchman Mitchel Bakker, who ideally could do with finding himself a loan move in order to gain more first-team experience.
This could be a case of deja vu for Bernat, as he left Bayern having played as a backup to the Austrian at the Allianz Arena between 2014 and 2018.
Alaba is priced at 9/1 to make the switch from Bayern to the French champions.
