Update: David Alaba’s agent set to begin negotiations with Chelsea in January

Here’s the latest on the David Alaba contract extension saga — after Bayern Munich took their contract offer off the table, it seems that the Austrian hasn’t begun talking to other clubs yet. Spanish champions Real Madrid were rumored to be interested in Alaba’s services, but Sport1’s Florian Plettenberg claims that there is no contact between the player’s camp and Zinedine Zidane.

As per the tweet, this information is coming from Alaba’s camp themselves:

With January fast approaching, clubs will soon be able to sign pre-contracts for players whose deals expire next summer. If the report is true, then the fact that Zahavi hasn’t received any real offers yet will probably worry Alaba and his father George, who represents him. However, there are a number of possibilities that could still be true:

• Alaba still wants to extend with Bayern and thinks he’s playing hardball.
• Alaba’s demands are too high for the vast majority of clubs that would want him, so he’s waiting for an improved offer. Barcelona, for example, could have been a destination for Alaba if not for their severe financial issues.
• The clubs that Alaba wants to join either don’t need him or won’t play him in his preferred role (midfield). Madrid, for example, already have Ferland Mendy and Marcelo on their books, and a decent bunch of players in midfield. They don’t exactly need someone with Alaba’s skill set at the moment.
• Perhaps Real Madrid won’t make an approach until Alaba’s Bayern situation is clarified, to preserve their relationship with the club’s front office. This would fit with Madrid’s M.O. when dealing with Bayern — they didn’t even bid for Robert Lewandowski even when he was desperate to join them.
• Alternatively, Florentino Perez is saving money for a galactico signing next summer — Kylian Mbappe maybe? With that in mind, he has no interest in bidding for Alaba.

Could Alaba extend his contract at Bayern? If he continues to receive no offers from other clubs, then the possibility increases. However, it’s likely that Zahavi is still biding his time, and will ramp up efforts in January when Alaba enters the last six months of his contract.

That’s all from the Alaba saga for now.

Update

A small update from Christian Falk:

We’ll just wait for a better source to report this one.