David Alaba will leave the Bernabeu after the 2025/26 season ends.
Alaba becomes a burden for Real.
According to AS , Real Madrid will not renew David Alaba's contract and will let him leave next summer as a free agent. The Austrian star's destination is likely to be Saudi Arabia. Several big names in the Saudi Pro League are ready to roll out the red carpet to welcome the former Bayern Munich star.
Alaba will leave Bernabeu with a huge collection of titles including 2 La Liga championships, 2 Champions League, European Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup,...
This decision will help the Spanish Royal team significantly reduce the financial burden, because Alaba receives a salary of 22.5 million euros/year for the 2025/26 season, equivalent to about 432,692 euros/week. This number ranks him in third place in the list of highest-paid players in La Liga, only behind Kylian Mbappe (31.25 million euros) and some other stars such as Robert Lewandowski or Frenkie de Jong.
Compare that to Valencia, a club struggling financially, whose total squad wage bill for the 2025/26 season is just €45.34 million. That means Alaba's salary alone accounts for nearly 50% of Los Che's wage budget, a shocking figure.
However, what Alaba brings to Real Madrid is not commensurate. In the last two seasons (2023/24 and 2024/25), this 33-year-old defender only played 24 matches in La Liga.
Since the 2023/24 season, the Austrian player has been out of action due to cruciate ligament injuries, adductor muscle pain, and most recently, calf pain that has kept him out for 18 days.