Serie A side Udinese have all but sealed a shock and sudden move for ex-Real Madrid defender David Alaba. He arrives on a free transfer and has arrived in Italy to undergo a medical too.
The deal, as it should be, has raised the eyebrows. More than his choice of the club, it is the fact that Alaba comes to Udine at a point when his career has pretty much been hindered by a raft of injury problems.
Knee injuries have constantly been a trouble and this also limited his impacted at Real Madrid constantly. Despite that, he did play at the World Cup for Austria, which is a sign that things could be back on track for the veteran.
But interestingly enough, Udinese needed a player of his profile. Oumar Solet recently picked up an injury which will rule him out for the next few weeks. He is a key part of their side and sets the tone on and off the ball. They also lost Thomas Kristensen to Atalanta and he too was the bedrock for the backline.
This has left Kosta Runjaic side without a defensive leader, at least until Solet returns.ย
In many ways, that is the role Alaba would love at this point of his career. He could easily elevate the level of the backline and younger defenders like James Abankwah will only benefit from having him around. Solet himself would be glad to have him around, especially as his stock has continued to grow in the last 12 months or so.ย
More than that, Alabaโs versatility on the pitch is easily ignored. If needed, he can slot into midfield and even in attacking midfield. How reliably he does that after the injury problems remains to be seen but those are qualities which can come in handy for Runjaic.
Besides, the club is clearly growing under the Pole. It is an English-speaking dressing room and that happens to be the preferred mode of communication for Runjaic too. That is why Alaba may not have to make a huge change and he could slot right in.
If anything, it is a free hit for the Austrian. There is very little chance it goes wrong, unless injuries come back to haunt him again.
Kaustubh Pandey โ GIFN
