Barca set up summer meeting with Alaba
According to 'AS', Barcelona have Bayern Munich utility man David Alaba on their radar for next summer with the versatile left-footed player a reported favourite of the Catalan club's board.
Enter a new name into Barcelona's potential summer targets: David Alaba. The Austrian footballer, who can play in either centre-back position, left-back or central midfield has been watched by the La Liga leaders for six years now.
However, 'Los Cules' technical director has reportedly asked Josep Bartomeu to get ready to splash the cash this summer because his signing won't come cheap.
Bayern Munich have successfully secured a contract extension with Alaba which doesn't run out until 2021 and only an exceptionally large sum of money would tempt them. Karl Heinz Rummenigge has even said in the past that the 25-year-old is "essential for us and for the structure of the team".
Nonetheless, according to the aforementioned source, Barcelona are willing to meet the Bundesliga club's demands. Urbano Ortega, the right hand of technical director Robert Fernandez, allegedly has a direct contact with the player and club and has set up a meeting for the end of the season.
Despite Atletico Madrid's Antoine Griezmann appearing as a higher priority, Fernandez does not want to lose sight of Alaba. It will not be an easy task to secure his signature, but in a crazy market anything can happen.
The Austria international has already played 21 games this campagin, following his eight previous years in Munich where he featured consistently in 30-40 matches per season. He would be a key signing for Barcelona at just 25 years of age.