Hansi Flick still hopes David Alaba stays at Bayern Munich despite links to Liverpool, other big clubs

The numerous attempts by Bayern Munich to get David Alaba to sign a contract extension have all been unsuccessful. Alaba and his agent have different valuations than the club when it comes to wages and both parties have been unable to negotiate a deal that and his contract expires in June. Despite the links to other clubs like Liverpool, who are currently experiencing a bit of a center-back crisis, Hansi Flick still has hopes that Alaba will wind up staying at Bayern.

Speaking in the press conference for the Bundesliga matchup against FC Köln, Flick stressed his hope that Alaba will realize how much he’ll benefit from choosing to stay at Bayern (Az): “I still hope that he will sign with Bayern. I think he knows what the current situation is in Munich. That we play successfully, that the club is one of the best in the world. He’ll think twice about that. I hope he stays with us. He has to decide that himself.”

All summer Alaba has been linked with a handful of Europe’s top clubs, but in recent weeks he’s been linked with a potential move to Liverpool to potentially re-join former Bayern teammate Thiago Alcantara. Jurgen Klopp currently faces a bit of a center-back injury crisis given Virgil van Dijk’s ACL tear suffered against Everton, Joel Matip’s persistent muscular issue in his leg, and Fabinho’s hamstring injury recently sustained in the 2-0 Champions League win over Midtjylland. In the winter transfer window, Klopp will certainly look for defensive reinforcements since Van Dijk is likely out for the rest of the season and Matip hasn’t played a string of consecutive matches in quite some time. For Liverpool, Alaba could be a perfect solution, both short and long term.

Despite Alaba’s performances seemingly having taken a bit of a drop so far this season, Flick says he still likes what he sees from his “defensive chief.” Flick still sees the same player that was so immense for Bayern last season en route to the treble: “He’s doing a good job. I experience it as I did last season. He is very noisy on the pitch and leads the defensive. For me it is no different from last season.”

Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images for FC Bayern