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

David Alaba has shown up well in midfield lately

A midfielder at Hoffenheim earlier in his career, David Alaba was mostly a left back during his legendary run with Bayern, establishing himself as one of the elite players at the position over the past decade. But he did get some matches in midfield in the past and was used somewhat frequently in the middle of the park for Die Roten in 2020-2021. On top of that, he’s a regular in the middle of the park for the national team.

Alaba has averaged 2.8 and 2.7 key passes per game for Austria in the UEFA Nations League and World Cup qualifying, respectively. That’s tremendous, and it offers a glimpse of the creative upside he could bring to Real Madrid as a midfield anchor and set-piece specialist. You know, in case Toni Kroos and Luka Modric need some rest. (They probably do, as tireless and consistent as they may be!)

For Bayern, the 28-year-old made about 10 starts in center midfield this past season and looked very good. He won the ball high up the pitch when pressing, took so many great shots from beyond the box, and had some heads-up plays in the final third attacking-wise. His highest ratings at any position came in midfield, via WhoScored’s system, whereas his lowest ratings were in central defense.

Alaba has serious talent in midfield, and that may be his best position at Real Madrid. Although Real have a handful of good midfielders, Alaba could bring high-quality depth to a team that did need to make at least one addition to their midfield for the upcoming season.