Barcelona and Real Madrid are both reportedly eyeing reinforcements in defence, and the La Liga rivals appear to have both set their sights on the same target.
Given the quality, versatility and experience that he possesses having proven his class for club and country, it’s not difficult to see why both are said to be targeting Bayern Munich’s David Alaba.
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The 25-year-old has made almost 300 appearances for the Bavarian giants already by his mid-20s, has 59 caps for Austria, and has developed a winning mentality with the former which would make him a solid signing for any club.
Combine that with his ability to play in various positions and roles, and he would be a more than useful part of any squad, and so it’s easy to see why both Barca and Madrid are said to be interested.
That’s the theory put forward by Mundo Deportivo, as per Calciomercato, who even claim that the Catalan giants are hoping to steal a march on their rivals as they have a pre-World Cup meeting planned to try and strike a deal with Alaba.
It’s suggested that given Lucas Digne’s struggles at the Nou Camp, the Austrian international could be a solution at left-back to offer cover and competition for Jordi Alba.
However, there is a case to be made that he’ll also be useful in the centre of the backline too as without a great deal of quality and depth behind Samuel Umtiti and Gerard Pique, coach Ernesto Valverde could certainly do with reinforcements there too.
Yerry Mina remains inexperienced while Thomas Vermaelen has had his injury woes in the past, and so Alaba could effectively address two areas of concern in one go.
From a Madrid perspective, it could be argued that they’re suffering with the same issue, as taking Sergio Ramos and Raphael Varane aside, they don’t have a lot of experience and established talent to step in.
Alaba would undoubtedly be a great signing for either, but Barcelona appear to pressing ahead it seems, based on this report.