Real Madrid have placed David Alaba firmly on their radar, but it won’t be easy to afford him.
On the one hand, David Alaba would be a free signing for Real Madrid, as his contract with Bayern Munich is set to expire in six months after Die Roten made it clear they would not meet the club legend’s salary demands.
But on the other hand, those same salary demands would prove to be just as onerous to Los Blancos as they were to Bayern during the economic crisis created by COVID-19.
According to a report from Marco Ruiz of AS, Real Madrid are prepared to compete with PSG, Manchester City, Barcelona, Chelsea, and Manchester United for Alaba. Barcelona and Real have been mentioned as dream landing spots for Alaba, who wants a La Liga move, but La Blaugrana have no money. And Real have very little wiggle room either.
In that same report, Ruiz writes that Alaba’s salary demands are the “only problem” for Los Blancos. He states that Alaba asked for 12 million euros in wages from Die Roten, and they balked at that asking price, which is only narrowly below captain Sergio Ramos’.
David Alaba wanted 12 million euros from Bayern Munich
The No. 4 is fully expected to receive a contract extension for his own expiring deal, and he will command that same amount of money of 15 million euros. That is why it seems Real Madrid can only sign Alaba if Ramos leaves, which is not something Madridistas would want to see.
Alaba’s asking price of 12 million euros may be negotiable for Real Madrid if he really wants to join the club, but he has so many other suitors. The likes of Chelsea, PSG, and City can still be big spenders in this economy due to where the majority of their money comes from, and the Blues signed two superstars on Madrid’s radar in Timo Werner and Kai Havertz this summer.
As it stands, those teams have an edge on Real, and even if they can afford Alaba, they might be better off spending their limited resources on a greater position of need. Alaba has earned that kind of money on the strength of his play over the years, but it makes more sense for someone else to meet that asking price.