Liverpool face competition from Real Madrid for a perfect signing.
This has been a weird time for football fans and football clubs. COVID-19 has kept supporters away from stadiums, repressed the transfer market and thrown up some really weird results.
Fixtures are coming thick and fast, there’s more Projects than you can shake a stick at and elite clubs across Europe are scheming.
But some things have remained reassuringly similar. Top players coming to the end of their contracts will be chased by outfits across the top five leagues.
Liverpool pulled off a real transfer coup thanks to their ability to sell the project to Bayern Munich man Thiago, and he’s set for a big future at the club.
We all know Jurgen Klopp’s squad is looking thin at the back following the horrible injury sustained by Virgil van Dijk, as well as the knocks picked up by Joel Matip and Fabinho.
There’s one man who could be picked up for a song that would help Liverpool to mitigate that, and it’s not Kalidou Koulibaly. It’s David Alaba.
Munich have failed in their third attempt to get Alaba to renew his contract, said Bild, and now a queue of teams are ready to swoop for the Austrian defender.
Calciomercato have reported that three elite outfits want to bring the versatile, defensively minded player to their neck of the woods.
Real Madrid, Inter and Juventus want to take Alaba on a free transfer next summer, but Liverpool should work to ensure they can get to the 28-year-old first.
This would be a tricky deal to pull off. Alab is demanding a heft pay packet that would put him among the top earners at Bayern, which is why Munich are reluctant to meet his terms.
Liverpool would have to stretch their budget for the man, but they should. Alaba can cover left-back, defensive midfield and van Dijk’s place as a centre-back. He’s a leader, he’s vocal and he’s an elite operator.
Alaba would be another massive lift to the squad and Klopp must get ahead of Madrid, Juve and Inter to bring another bargain deal to the club.