David Alaba has reached agreement on a pre-contract with Real Madrid and has already taken the medicals ahead of the summer transfer, Marca reports. The Spanish giants have emerged victorious in the rich sweepstakes to sign the defender for free, as he his deal with Bayern Munich will expire in June, beating out the competition coming from Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and also Juventus.
The Bianconeri were directly linked to the player by CEO Karl-Heinz Rumenigge in a recent interview, but the Galacticos outbid the contenders and the player reportedly had them on top of the list of his preferred destinations. He will earn €12M for the next four years.
According to Calciomercato.com, Juventus had an explorative approach with his agent Pini Zahavi in recent weeks, but never really made an offer because his demands were considered too high, especially for the current conjuncture where they are looking to contain the payroll.
Our view
Alaba would have been well suited to play in Juventus’ flexible defensive scheme as he can take care of a couple of positions, and the Old Lady has often been ready to pounce in the past when the opportunity to sign free agents presented itself. However, he would have been the second highest paid player in the roster at those wages, so the hesitation is well justified and the competition was incredibly fierce, so they were not guaranteed to come out on top even if they did make an offer.