Alaba to Barcelona may hinge on Zahavi’s reputation and Barca’s next club president

As outlined in a new report from SportBild, David Alaba can officially speak with other clubs regarding a transfer away from Bayern Munich in just three weeks, starting January 1, 2021. After several attempts to persuade Alaba to sign a contract extension, Bayern’s front office have made it clear that they will not stand in the way of Alaba leaving the club this summer. One of the main roadblocks in negotiations between Alaba, his agent Pini Zahavi, and Bayern’s front office was the substantial salary demands from Alaba and Zahavi. Bayern’s front office has refused to budge on that.

As of January 1, interested clubs can speak with Alaba directly without contacting Bayern, since his contract expires this summer. Barcelona, Chelsea, and Real Madrid are some of the clubs that have shown the most interest in acquiring the Austrian’s services. However, both Barcelona and Real are going through difficult financial spells, which does not bode well in light of Alaba’s salary demands. Both clubs would more than likely have to offload talent to afford Alaba. Barca’s Frenkie De Jong has recently been linked with a potential move to Bayern for that very reason, Perhaps a swap deal of sorts could materialize, but at this points it’s only speculation.

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Of the clubs interested, Barcelona has been linked with Alaba for the longest period. Alaba has said before that they’re a dream club for him, but a move to Barcelona at this stage also poses its own set of roadblocks. For one, Zahavi doesn’t exactly have a glowing relationship with the Catalan club on account of his involvement in the transfer of Neymar Jr. to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer of 2017 for a record €222m.

There are also a handful of candidates in the running for Barcelona’s presidential elections in the wake of Josep Bartomeu’s departure from said post. One of the candidates is Joan Laporta, who previously held the post from 2003-2010 and has a close relationship with Zahavi, so if he were to win the election, a path to Barcelona for Alaba could be much more feasible. If Laporta doesn’t win, getting a deal over the line could be increasingly difficult amidst Barcelona’s financial hardships. It’s also uncertain at this point whether or not Lionel Messi will be leaving the club this summer, which would certainly effect the club’s finances and wage structure.

Of course, if it proves too difficult to find a club willing to pay Alaba’s wages, Zahavi could sit down with Bayern’s front office once again, but that would mean he would eventually have to budge on salary demands. A lot can happen in short periods of time in football, so we’ll just have to wait and see what happens with Alaba. For now, he’s focused on putting his best foot forward with Bayern.

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