Report: Bayern has “friendly” meeting in Lisbon with Pini Zahavi over David Alaba’s contract extension

Persuading Austrian David Alaba to agree on a new deal has proved to be a far more difficult task than Bayern Munich’s front office probably anticipated. Per a new report from Bild, though, a positive lunch meeting recently took place between Alaba’s agent, Pini Zahavi, and members from Bayern’s front office in Lisbon.

While specific names were not mentioned as far as which Bayern representatives were present at the meeting, the report states that the overall mood was good. Although the meeting did not result in a final agreement to renew Alaba’s contract, a “friendly” exchange of information took place between the parties. This could still be perceived as a step in the right direction from Bayern’s point of view.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Hasan Salihamidzic had already met with Zahavi without Alaba present and had little luck. Rummenigge subsequently voiced his frustration with Zahavi and Alaba’s representatives for their salary demands last month. He also was not happy with the fact that Zahavi was trying to leverage interest from Barcelona to extract more money for Alaba’s contract extension with Bayern. This is the same tactic that Zahavi had used in the past with Robert Lewandowski and Real Madrid, much to the distaste of Bayern’s front office.

Hopefully this meeting was in fact an important step in the right direction. Given how well Alaba has performed for Bayern this season, Bayern’s front office may be willing to budge a little in terms of meeting his demands for a higher salary. Alaba arguably deserves to be one of the club’s highest paid players alongside Manuel Neuer, Lewandowski, and Thomas Müller.

Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images