David Alaba has been going through hell since the serious injury he suffered in December 2023 against Villarreal. The Austrian footballer made his comeback in January 2025, much later than expected, but since then, he has suffered one injury after another, leaving him sidelined for almost the entire season.
Alaba and his recovery problems
David Alaba cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel. The serious ligament injury he suffered at the end of 2023 was expected to be tough, as is usual with this type of injury, but no one could have predicted what was to come. His recovery was much slower than expected, almost 13 months until he returned to the pitch in January 2025. Ancelotti wanted to ease him back into the rotation gradually, with the aim of getting one of the team’s best center backs back to full fitness before he had to go under the knife. However, something wasn’t working. Not only was the player unable to regain his form, but he was also suffering a string of minor muscle injuries that kept setting his recovery back.
Nevertheless, he continued to have the confidence of Ancelotti, so much so that he started in Real Madrid’s Champions League elimination against Arsenal, suffering the unbearable with Saka. He was not seen again on the pitch, and a few days before the end of the league season, he broke his meniscus again, ruling him out of the Club World Cup.
The situation at Real Madrid
At first, given the advances in medicine, Real Madrid hoped to be able to recover the player, but as 2025 progressed, they began to realize the problem they had on their hands. The idea was for him to accumulate minutes, as many as necessary to get back into competitive rhythm, and from there make a decision about his future. Little by little, the idea took shape that it would be best to try to separate his future from Real Madrid, but his constant relapses make it impossible for any team to take him on, especially given the Austrian’s financial situation.
David Alaba is among the club’s highest-paid players, arriving on a free transfer from Bayern Munich and rewarded with such benefits. Until his injury, his salary was justified, but not now. The player has one year left on his contract and wants to fulfill it for several reasons: first, he is unlikely to find a team, especially with the salary he earns. Second, he believes that Madrid is now the best place for him to recover and a showcase to ensure his presence in the World Cup if Austria finally qualifies.
Real Madrid are considering paying him the remaining year of his contract and releasing the player, a formula they used a few years ago with Hazard, with the aim of freeing up space in a squad that needs room to make other signings.
His role in the team
For his part, the footballer is confident that he will regain his form over the coming months. But he will face tough competition. Rudiger and Huijsen seem set in the starting eleven. Asencio, despite the Club World Cup, is ahead of him, and Militao, who has already returned to play after his second cruciate injury, looked very good in the minutes he played and is expected to be at his best for the start of the new season. This leaves the Austrian as the fifth center back. And if he were to return to left back, he would now be behind Mendy, Fran García, and Álvaro Carreras.
It’s a complicated situation for Alaba at Real Madrid and a complicated situation for the club, which is looking for solutions with the player between now and the end of the summer transfer window.