Real Madrid have announced the arrival of David Alaba, who joins the club on a free transfer after leaving Bayern Munich. However, Los Blancos are reportedly paying Alaba a bumper wage to play for them for the next five years.
What has been known for a while now was made official last night, as Real Madrid announced the arrival of David Alaba. The Austrian left Bayern Munich open contract expiry before penning a five-year deal with the Spanish giants. The 28-year-old becomes Los Blancos’ first arrival of the summer, albeit one who they are paying a bumper wage.
Madrid confirmed the capture of Alaba on Friday night with a short statement and a video posted on their social media accounts. The statement – which confirmed Alaba’s unveiling will take place after the Euros – read as follows:
“Real Madrid CF has reached an agreement with player David Alaba, who will remain linked to the club for the next five seasons.
“David Alaba will be presented as a new Real Madrid player after the completion of Euro 2021.”
Meanwhile, Alaba himself took to Twitter to announce his excitement over the impending move. The Austrian had been at Bayern for over a decade during which time he won ten Bundesliga and two Champions League titles. He paid tribute to his former club before announcing his excitement at joining Real Madrid.
“I leave a special club for another special club. I am really happy and honored to join Real Madrid. After so many years in Munich, I will face a new challenge and I will give my best to continue the club’s special history,” Alaba wrote.
Florian Plettenberg of Sport1 previously revealed the details of Alaba’s contract with Real Madrid, which The Athletic’s Raphael Honigstein later collated. The Austrian is expected to earn a whopping 25 million euros per annum, which, when translated to per week terms, is around 400 thousand. Bayern, writes Honigstein, offered Alaba a deal worth 16 million euros per annum, a significant decrease from his contract at Real Madrid.