Bayern hopeful on new Alaba deal; want fair price for Thiago
David Alaba has less than a year left on his Bayern Munich contract, but Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is confident an agreement will be reached.
Bayern Munich CEO Karl-Heinz Rummenigge says that he is cautiously optimistic that David Alaba will sign a contract extension with the Bundesliga champions. Versatile defender Alaba has less than a year remaining on his existing deal at the Allianz Arena but, according to reports, the club are unwilling to meet his wages demands of 20 million euros per season.
Alaba to sit down with Bayern after the Champions League
Hansi Flick has expressed his hope that the Austria international will finish his career at Bayern, who are gearing up for a Champions League quarter-final against Barcelona in Lisbon on Friday. Alaba is expected to re-enter negotiations with the Bavarian giants once their European campaign is over and Rummenigge believes an agreement will be reached. "With Alaba, I am cautiously optimistic we will find a solution," Rummenigge told the media on Tuesday.
Thiago linked to Liverpool
Bayern look set to lose Thiago Alcántara, however, with the midfielder having informed the club of his desire to leave. Thiago is under contract until the end of the 2020-21 season but is available for "a fair fee" and has been strongly linked to Premier League champions Liverpool.
Rummenigge said: "It's well known that Thiago has told us he would like to do something new. If a club approaches us that is willing to pay a fair fee, we will deal with it."
Having already signed Leroy Sané from Manchester City in a deal that could reach €60m, Rummenigge insisted there will be no further significant outlays. Bayern opted against exercising their option to make Philippe Coutinho's loan from Barcelona permanent and any lingering hopes of remaining in Munich appear to have been dashed. "Coutinho - as I said, the contract is running out and we cannot and will not make any further investments of this magnitude," he said.