Joshua Kimmich can’t blame David Alaba for choosing Real Madrid

The news has recently broke that David Alaba has agreed a five-year deal to join Real Madrid this summer after his long tenure with Bayern Munich. It’s been known for a long time that he’d be leaving after this season, but it was just unclear where, exactly, he’d be going until now. The Austrian has enjoyed thirteen well-decorated seasons at FC Bayern and despite numerous negotiation attempts from Bayern’s front office to try to get him to sign a new contract, it’s time for him to embark upon a new challenge in La Liga.

Teammate Joshua Kimmich is one of Alaba’s closest friends on the team and the midfielder said he can’t argue with Alaba’s decision to leave Bayern after so many years for Real Madrid. Of course, the two clubs have had a bit of a rivalry in the UEFA Champions League recent years, but Kimmich still doesn’t have any hard feelings for his teammates decision (Az). “He has won everything here, won everything several times. Twice the triple, once even six titles. Real Madrid are definitely a worthy club. There aren’t many steps you can take after Bayern Munich , but Real is not that bad,” Kimmich said on Alaba’s decision.

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Over the course of the season, Paris Saint-Germain, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Barcelona had been linked with Alaba, among others, but Real Madrid has won the race in the end. Bayern simply was not willing to pay the wages that Alaba and his representatives were asking for in their efforts to have him sign a contract renewal. At times, the tension between Bayern and Alaba was palpable. Uli Hoeneß had referred to Alaba’s agent as a “greedy piranha” at one point. Still, though, Alaba has stuck to the task and has done his job, whether it’s been in defense or midfield, given that Hansi Flick has used him in multiple decisions this season out of necessity.

After Bayern’s 2-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen, Flick did not want to comment on the news that Alaba had agreed the five-year deal with Real Madrid. “He hasn’t told me about it yet, so I don’t want to say anything about it yet. When it’s fixed, David will tell me and I will speak out,” he explained.