David Alaba spoke on Monday afternoon. The central defender of FC Bayern was announced for the press conference before the Champions League game at FC Salzburg on Tuesday. Originally it was planned that Alaba would mainly talk about returning to his Austrian homeland. But then there was very little nostalgia to be felt.
FC Bayern’s announcement that it would withdraw its offer to Alaba for a new contract from 2021 had previously caused a stir – and Alaba’s response on Monday was just as powerful.
“I found out about it from the news like you did last night,” Alaba told reporters in the virtual press conference. “I am a player who really enjoys playing for FC Bayern and I am very happy to be part of this team. But after last night I cannot say what it will be like in the future. No one from the official side has it talked to me. “
These statements also cast a bad image on communication at FC Bayern – or at least on the handling of a player who has played for FC Bayern since 2008 with a short break.
And coach Hansi Flick also kept his distance from President Herbert Hainer, who had made the end of the contract negotiations with Alaba public on Sunday evening in the program “Blickpunkt Sport”. This was preceded by a phone call between sports director Hasan Salihamidzic and Alaba advisor Pini Zahavi, who described Bayern’s offer as “still unsatisfactory”. “Thereupon,” says Hainer, “we decided to take the offer off the table completely”.
The point of contention was always the salary, and the club repeatedly went public. Uli Hoeneß said that the Alaba side was demanding a higher salary than the top earners Manuel Neuer and Robert Lewandowski, according to his words “greedy piranha” and advisor Zahavi – which Zahavi immediately denied.
Suddenly, Alaba is no longer a crowd favorite
In any case, the mood against Alaba has long since tipped in fan circles, especially in times of pandemic there seems to be little understanding for high wage demands. Alaba now said: “I have always emphasized that I would have liked it if internal remained internal. I can understand the perspective of the fans. But my perspective is different, I can only say that the sums that are in the room were thrown, not true. ” Alaba went on to say that this “was not officially denied,” that it “disappointed and hurt” him.
From the club headquarters, however, one heard again on Monday that the offer to Alaba was “huge”. There is talk of around 17 million euros per year including bonuses.
From the perspective of FC Bayern, Alaba and his advisor were given until the end of October to accept or decline the offer. According to Alaba’s bill, this last conversation took place just a week ago. “I said that in seven days I won’t have the worry to make a decision.” On the other hand, the offer had been available for much longer.
Trainer Flick was not very happy about the development. “I am anything but happy that we have to deal with this issue, with two important games against Salzburg and Dortmund in a week’s time.” He hopes that Alaba will stay in Munich beyond the end of the season.
A second case of Ballack?
Alaba’s father was also alienated on Monday morning in an interview with SPIEGEL about Bayern’s approach. He is not surprised about the withdrawal of the offer. “This is FC Bayern, they can do what they want,” said George Alaba on the phone. “The real surprise is that they only go through the press the whole time. I don’t think that the boy is appreciated.” He explained that his son was disappointed, and then spoke of the “wrong numbers” without, however, naming the supposedly correct ones.
Much is reminiscent of the case of Michael Ballack 15 years ago. In November 2005, the Bavarians withdrew their offer for a new contract, here too they argued with the opposing side’s demands being too high. Ballack played a good rest of the season, although the relationship between club and player before Ballack’s move to Chelsea was suddenly very cold.
A future for David Alaba at FC Bayern is now difficult to imagine.
