David Alaba has insisted there was no truth to claims he could have left Real Madrid during the summer transfer window.
As one of the squad’s highest earners, Alaba was regularly reported to be close to the exit door at Madrid, where the 33-year-old appears to be behind Dean Huijsen, Antonio Rüdiger and Éder Militão in the pecking order under Xabi Alonso.
Now in the final year of his contract and having struggled with injuries in recent seasons, there were suggestions Madrid were actively looking to offload Alaba, who has even been tipped to move to Türkiye in recent days, but the Austria international firmly brushed off the speculation.
“I’ve been in football long enough for rumors to be part of the business,” he told the media during Austria duty. “Fortunately, these are things I don’t dwell on for too long, and I laughed a lot because nothing was true.
“It was all lies.”
The versatile defender recently made his first competitive appearance since April, playing 70 minutes for Austria against Cyprus on Saturday, as he acknowledged his lengthy struggles with injury continue to have an impact.
“I’m feeling good now,” he insisted. “I’ve made a lot of progress lately. I think I could play 90 minutes for the national team, although I don’t know if it would make sense.
“We’ll see how I feel in the upcoming matches. My goal is to play and be on the pitch.”
While Alaba remains determined to fight for his place in Madrid, recent reports have claimed he will not be offered an extension to his lucrative contract and could be ushered out on a free transfer at the end of the season.
READ THE LATEST REAL MADRID NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND MORE
This article was originally published on www.si.com as ‘All Lies’—Real Madrid Star Laughs Off Transfer Links.