Real Madrid: 3 reasons to be a fan of the David Alaba signing

It’s official. After months of speculation and reports of an agreement, Real Madrid have welcomed David Alaba to the club. He is the first official signing of the 2021 summer transfer window and could very well be one of only two notable signings this year.

Alaba will make about 12 million euros per year and did not play well at center back this past season, which makes some Real Madrid fans leery about the Austrian international’s fit as Sergio Ramos’ replacement.

But Alaba should not be viewed as a one-to-one replacement for the captain, whose future remains unclear.

Therefore, let’s look at some of the reasons why Madridistas should be optimistic about Alaba joining Los Blancos.

David Alaba was great at center back the previous year

Although David Alaba struggled at the heart of the Bayern Munich defense in 2020-2021, perhaps that was due to the uncertainty of his future in Bavaria. Because in the previous season, Alaba was arguably the Bundesliga’s best central defender when looking at his consistency throughout the 2019-2020 season.

Alaba rarely got caught out defensively, as he was dribbled past just 0.3 times per game in the Bundesliga and 0.1 times per match in the Champions League, according to WhoScored.com. Those are astounding numbers, as Alaba was very much a key part of the treble-winning squad.

His greatest impact was in the build-up play, though. Alaba was nearly flawless at supporting Bayern’s ability to begin attacks, working well with Thiago Alcantara by completing just over 90 percent of his passes and 0.7 key passes per game. He averaged nearly 87 pass attempts per game in the Bundesliga. Those are incredible numbers at center back.

So while Alaba was a disappointment this past season, maybe the 2019-2020 season will be more indicative of the quality he brings to Real Madrid. And if so, Real may have truly landed a steal in free agency.