David Alaba announces he’s leaving Bayern Munich in the summer, but probably not for Chelsea

David Alaba had been widely rumored to be leaving Bayern Munich in the summer after being unable to come to terms over a contract extension, with Chelsea, Liverpool and Real Madrid all supposedly in the mix as his next club.

In a rare move, Alaba himself has now confirmed his intentions to leave, and go in search of a new challenge after 13 very successful years with the Bundesliga side with whom he won 26 major trophies.

“I have personally made the decision to leave FC Bayern at the end of this season and try something new. It obviously wasn’t an easy decision — I’ve been here for 13 years and the club is very important to me. I decided for myself to try something new, a new challenge.

“I am looking for a new challenge. It wasn’t a financial decision. I still have six to seven years to play football and now I wanted to try something new. I made the decision a few weeks ago and communicated it to the people in charge. Money wasn’t a factor for me.”

Despite speculation positing him towards various different clubs over the last couple of months, Alaba has insisted that he hasn’t chosen his next destination yet, and will evaluate all options on the table.

“First of all, I haven’t decided which club I’m going to join yet. There are many factors involved. I will give a lot of thought to that. Where can I continue to play successful football? That will greatly influence my decision. This lies in the future and we will see.”

Real Madrid continue to be the favorites however, and Alaba gave a slight teaser about a potential move to Spain.

“My management is in talks with all the clubs. I’m not stressed about that. At some point I’ll make my decision.

“My Spanish is not good, but good enough for the pitch.”

-David Alaba; source: Mirror

Bayern Munich have already confirmed the signing of Dayot Upamecano for next season, and he will be expected to fill in Alaba’s big boots at the Allianz Arena. As for Chelsea, it looks like we are still trying to convince the 28-year-old Alaba to come to London, but his wage demands continue to be a hindrance in our efforts to sign him.