It was in the middle of December 2023 when David Alaba went down injured against Villarreal in La Liga. His setback was soon confirmed to be an ACL injury and the player went under the blade with a forecasted return around November this year.
The Austrian star returned to work on the field by August and has been working separately to strengthen his knee and get ready for action on the field. However, the progress has been quite slow it appears.
Indeed, even though he is back working on the pitch by himself, Alaba is no closer to a return and the option of him playing in November is now all but ruled out as revealed by AS.
No deadline
As furthered by the Spanish outlet, there is no date set for Alaba’s return, as it stands. In optimistic sight, he may be able to return in December but it is growing more and more likely that his return be deferred to 2025 given his current position.
The defender is doing everything on his part both on and off the field to hasten his recovery but there appears to be no progress.
Real Madrid understand that every individual faces his hiccups in a return after a long injury but his prolonged in-availability does not help the squad’s situation.
Alaba may well thus spend more than a year out and see the entire 2024 without a minute played.
However, Los Blancos maintains that his complete recovery is the priority and that he will not be rushed come what may.
Until Alaba’s return, the manager will count on Aurelien Tchouameni as his backup centre-back while the option of securing reinforcements in the winter transfer market is also not ruled out.