The dream of the Club World Cup is shattered! Real Madrid s 33-year-old iron guard is injured again, with high salary and low attendance. Is it a foregone conclusion to say goodbye this summer?

Fate once again showed a cruel red card to David Alaba. Real Madrid's joy of advancing to the Club World Cup was instantly dispersed by the diagnosis of the soleus muscle torn on the left leg of the Austrian defender. This means that at the age of 33, he will be on standby for three weeks and say goodbye to this event completely. This is the third serious injury Alaba suffered in 2025.

Over the past 16 months, Alaba's career has been shrouded in injuries. A cruciate ligament tear kept him away from the field for 399 days. After only one month of his return, the tear of the meniscus on the medial left knee dragged him back to the infirmary. After a brief period of stability, shortly after the King's Cup final ended, new injuries followed one after another. Alaba's name can no longer be filled in the Club World Cup plan for head coach Alonso.

High cost and cold reality

According to the Marca, Alaba receives nearly 13 million euros in net income from Real Madrid every year. However, the ongoing injuries made it difficult for him to match his attendance rate to this high salary. The club's attitude has changed: they will listen carefully to any offer against Alaba this summer. Although the player himself expressed his willingness to stay in the team many times, Real Madrid has made it clear that he will not renew his contract (the contract expires in 2026).

Fifth central defender and World Cup countdown

Alaba's current value in the German transfer market has shrunk significantly to 6 million euros. The cruel team competition is in front of you: even if you stay in the team, he will be the fifth central defender choice after Rudiger, Militon, Asensio and Hausen, and playing time is difficult to guarantee. What's more urgent is that the clock of the 2026 World Cup is ticking, and Alaba urgently needs a stable game to recover his form. The days of recovery from

will become a critical period for Alaba to think about the future. Staying in the Bernabeu means accepting marginal roles and high-paying questions. Searching for transfers is related to the last peak opportunity of your career and the dream of the World Cup. This fall before the Club World Cup may have accelerated the arrival of that difficult decision. Has the career of white clothes really reached a fork in the road?