Real Madrid don’t have done deal for Alaba – Laporta

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

Barcelona presidential candidate Joan Laporta believes Real Madrid do not have a deal agreed to sign Bayern defender David Alaba on a free transfer this summer.

Last week, reports emerged that negotiations had been finalised for the Austrian to move to the Santiago Bernabeu after the expiration of his contract with Bayern.

Those stories have since been denied by Alaba’s father and agent, who said:

“I cannot confirm the reports from Spain,” George Alaba told German newspaper BILD. “Nothing is fixed or signed yet. There are many interested parties.”

Laporta, who is one of the front-runners to become Barcelona president again, believes the club still have a chance to usurp rivals Real Madrid to the signing of Alaba.

“I think that Madrid does not have Alaba tied,” Laporta said, according to Mundo Deportivo per Onze.

“The first thing I will do is speak with the current technical secretariat to find out how things are. I am ready to make the sporting improvements that I touch,”

Alaba is one of Bayern’s most senior players and has won every trophy possible with the Bavarian side, including the treble of the Bundesliga, Champions League, and DFB-Pokal in the historic 2019/20 campaign.

However, he has not hid his desire to try out another league, and apparently would only be willing to stay with Bayern if he was made one of their highest paid players alongside the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Manuel Neuer, and Thomas Muller.

He has been linked with every elite club in Europe, as alongside Barcelona and Real Madrid, Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool, Man City, PSG, and Juventus have all had their names rumoured in the transfer saga.

Even though Alaba is set to leave, he has held his place in the Bayern starting XI this season and has started 15 out of their opening 17 matches in the Bundesliga.