Why David Alaba has only received one Premier League contract offer

Exclusive - Bayern Munich defender David Alaba has only received one contract offer from a Premier League club, despite preparing to become a free agent when his contract expires this summer.

Sides in the Premier League still do not believe that Alaba is genuinely interested in making the move to England and most have opted against presenting him with a contract offer because of that.

Alaba, named by 90min as the third best centre-back in the world at the end of 2020, is seeking a new challenge after 10 years at Bayern, where he has won it all multiple times over.

At 28, he offers exceptional value as a free transfer, although any move he makes will have to come with an enormous contract – potentially up to £400,000 per week.

90min revealed in November that Liverpool and Manchester City would be interested in Alaba if wanted to play in England. However, both clubs equally made it clear to the player’s camp that they don’t want any involvement if their interest in him isn’t fully reciprocated.

90min now understands the only real offer on the table to Alaba from the Premier League has been made by Chelsea. It remains to be seen how seriously he is taking the proposal and a source from another top six side has confirmed their club has not made an offer because of the player’s stance.

Although it was thought not too long ago that he might at least be ‘open’ to the idea, Alaba has never had a real desire to play in the Premier League and there is a significant difference between refusing to fully close the door and actually wanting it to happen. His indifference to it was a major reason why Manchester City backed away from properly pursuing him in 2019.

Despite securing an agreement in advance to sign Dayot Upamecano from RB Leipzig in July, Bayern understandably still wish to keep Alaba. However, he would prefer to move to Spain, where Real Madrid and Barcelona have regularly followed his progress over the years.

Real are the favourites to sign the Austria international. They are ready to move on a host of big names at the end of the season as part of a squad overhaul and are prepared to offer Alaba a four-year contract worth €450,000 per week, the equivalent of almost £400,000.

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