Real Madrid: David Alaba can reach another level this season

Real Madrid have a new star coming for the 2021-2022 season, and while the circumstances of Sergio Ramos’ departure to PSG have somewhat dampened the celebrations, the fact remains that Los Blancos are getting one of the world’s finest players in David Alaba over the next several years.

There may be some additional trepidation from the last major signing of a player in the prime, as left winger Eden Hazard’s big-money move to the Santiago Bernabeu has not worked out at all to this point due to a myriad of injuries.

But it is comforting that Alaba is already drawing rave reviews for his physical condition, given the same could not be said about Hazard when he first moved to Madrid.

Alaba, like so many others before him, is making the leap to Real Madrid at a point in his career when he is already won many individual and team honors. And so on the outset, it would seem like a record Bundesliga winner and a recent treble winner would have little to prove.

There’s a saying, though, that to perform at Real Madrid and Barcelona is to reach a different level in the world of football. It takes a truly special player and character to succeed at these two pressurized, historic LaLiga clubs.

David Alaba wants to become a legend at Real Madrid

To me, then, it is telling that Alaba had always pointed out Real and Barça as his dream destinations, with Los Blancos at the absolute top of that list. Bayern Munich are an incredible club with great history and prestige, and they have accomplished more recently than either of these clubs. But because Bayern are in the Bundesliga, there is this perception that they have it easier and their players tend to not get the same profile that a great player at Real or Barça would.

Alaba is widely recognized as an accomplished player, but he truly does fly under the radar when you think about it. For example, he was arguably the best center back in the Bundesliga in 2018-2019 despite having never been a regular starter at that position. Yet he was barely a part of the conversation and wasn’t praised as much as a star, treble-winning central defender should be.

More to the point, Alaba has exuded excellence for a decade at left back, but his star profile is below that of even contemporaries in defense. Alaba has been an unsung hero for years at Bayern, and he wants more. Not just financially – otherwise he would have signed for, say, PSG over Real – but in terms of prestige.

Sergio Ramos is the most decorated center back of all time. Alaba wants to become one of the legends of the game, and he knows that in order to reach that precipice, he must prove to the world that he can be an elite defender at Real Madrid. He needs to expand his horizons beyond the Bundesliga and Bayern, to step out of the comfort zone he created by being such a reliable player for Die Roten.

Thus, Alaba has a ton of personal motivation coming into his first season with Real Madrid, beyond the motivation a world-class athlete with about 10 years of top-level experience under their belt. Alaba wants to be more than just good, or great, even. He wants to write his name in the history books with Los Merengues.

And that will take him far. With his footballing brain, experience, technical quality, and versatility, Alaba can be a marquee signing for Real in a summer with a seeming dearth of incoming quality. Alaba is the silver lining, because he is out to get his FULL respect.