David Alaba is one of the biggest names still without a club. The 34-year-old Austria defender won the Champions League four times with Bayern Munich and Real Madrid, on top of a long list of domestic titles. But Los Blancos did not extend his contract at the end of June. Alaba has been searching for a new club ever since, without success so far.
Now TV pundit Dietmar Hamann is already wondering whether Alaba's career could be over. "The question is whether he still can do it," Hamann told Sky. "The longer it takes, the greater the probability that we will not see him on a football pitch again." Alaba has spent years battling persistent injury problems. He suffered a cruciate ligament tear and a meniscus tear, among other setbacks. Across the past two seasons, he played only 1,174 minutes for Real in total.
Even so, he still made Austria's World Cup squad in the summer. Alaba started all four matches as captain before the round-of-32 exit against Spain. For the upcoming international window, though, head coach Ralf Rangnick did not call up Alaba, who has not officially retired yet. He is currently keeping fit with individual training.
HSV, Mexico, Austria: where will David Alaba move?
Plenty of clubs have been linked with Alaba in recent months. Reported interest from Lazio, Manchester United and Inter Milan came to nothing. MLS has also been mentioned as a possible destination, specifically Inter Miami around Lionel Messi. More recently, the rumours have become even wilder: Bild linked Alaba with Hamburger SV and the Spanish newspaper Marca with Mexican giants Club America.
Then there is the idea of a return to his youth club Austria Vienna. How seriously the club are trying to sign Alaba recently sparked a heated public exchange in Austria between former Austria coach Frenkie Schinkels and defensive leader Aleksandar Dragovic, Alaba's long-time team-mate in the national side.
"No offence, but if nobody at Austria Vienna asked about Alaba, the entire board should be locked up," Schinkels said in his podcast. Asked about those comments, Dragovic replied on Sky: "Do you really believe Austria are so stupid and didn't call David? You have to keep a sense of proportion. I understand, the gentlemen want to be funny and get clicks. But you also shouldn't get carried away. We are not asleep in Wien-Favoriten."
Any club that wants to sign Alaba will have to negotiate with legendary Israeli agent Pini Zahavi. During Alaba's free transfer from Bayern Munich to Real in 2021, Uli Hoeneß called Zahavi a "money-grabbing piranha".