Bayern Munich rule out Chelsea-linked David Alaba sale ‘in the winter’

Over the weekend, in a classic bit of red top rumor mongering, Chelsea were linked with a £60m move for David Alaba, who has spent his entire professional life at Bayern Munich — which is saying something even he is still just 27 years old.

But perhaps more than any of those two numbers, 60 or 27, the operative number that everyone’s looking at is 18. That’s the number of months left on his current contract. And while one would assume an extension will eventually be signed, perhaps that assumption isn’t as safe to make as one might imagine.

When asked about these recent rumors (interim?) Bayern Munich head coach Hans-Dieter Flick made it pretty clear that Alaba isn’t going anywhere. But he added a rather specific detail, which opens this whole thing up to further speculation.

“Alaba is not for sale in the winter.

“Alaba is doing very well at centre-back at the moment. He can lead a team, he showed that. This is the criteria the leader of the defence has to fulfil.”

-Hans-Dieter Flick; source: Goal

In the winter.

So how about the summer?

Ben Chilwell might be the top target, but Alaba could be a wonderful option as well, depending on the price-to-age ratio and all that.