Valencia Club de Fútbol considered signing Austrian defender David Alaba to address a severe injury crisis in central defence. The club ultimately decided against the move and will wait for the January transfer window.
The wave of injuries affecting Valencia's backline led sporting director Braulio Vázquez to scour the free agent market. In that context, the name of Alaba, a 34-year-old free agent after leaving Real Madrid, emerged as an option. "The free agent market is not usually to his liking due to the players' period of inactivity," Vázquez explained regarding the club's strategy.
The decision not to proceed was based on two main factors. The first was concern over the player's physical condition, as he has struggled with knee and calf problems over the last two years and has not played regularly. The second was the club's limited margin within financial fair play rules, which complicated an operation of this magnitude. With Justin de Haas as the only available natural centre-back and absences like César Tárrega, Mouctar Diakhaby and José Copete, manager Javier Aguirre has had to improvise with players like Pepelu in that position.
The team's current context
Valencia faces this sporting situation from a difficult league position. The team sits 19th in La Liga with just 4 points after seven games, with a record of one win, one draw and five defeats. Their last outing was a narrow 2-3 home defeat to Real Sociedad. The next fixture is Aguirre's debut on the bench, an away trip to El Sardinero to face Racing de Santander on October 11th.
David Alaba, meanwhile, has signed for Italian side Udinese, definitively closing any possibility of a move to Valencia.
More detail at Mundo Deportivo
