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Jerome Boateng insisted that Bayern Munich players were behind David Alaba amid uncertainty about the defender’s future.
Alaba, 28, seems ready to leave the European and Bundesliga champions after failing to reach a new contract, and his current contract expires at the end of the season.
Still, the defender played 90 minutes and Bayern beat Salzburg 6-2 in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Boateng said the players backed Alaba, who came to Bayern as a youth in 2008.
“Of course it is a problem, but not as big as it is made. He focuses on the essentials,” he said. Sky.
“It is not an easy situation for him, that is clear. But he played another great game today. We as a team are absolutely behind him.”
Speaking ahead of the Salzburg game, Bayern sporting director Hasan Salihamidzic admitted that he assumes Alaba will leave the club as he cannot see a successful resolution of his contract saga.
“I can tell you what happened. We negotiated and made an offer to David. He turned it down. Ten days ago we sat down again and presented another offer, with a deadline,” Salihamidzic said. Sky.
“We informed David and his agent that we would withdraw the offer when the deadline expired. We did. I spoke with his agent again on Saturday and tried to speak with David again on Sunday because he wanted to know what was going on, but it didn’t take long.
“I no longer know how we will find a way to get back together. We made an offer and it was rejected. Now we have to assume that David will leave us.”
Bayern initially came from behind against Salzburg and the Group A clash was tied when Masaya Okugawa drew for the Austrian giants in the 66th minute.
But Bayern scored four times in 13 minutes, starting with Boateng at 79 and completed by Lucas Hernandez in overtime.
The result extended Bayern’s unbeaten streak in the Champions League to 15 games. Only Manchester United (16 between 2007 and 2010) have produced a longer streak.
“It was the tough game we expected,” Boateng said. “Salzburg played very well.
“In the end we showed that we really wanted to win. What sets us apart is that we never give up. We took another step. Salzburg were a bit tired, we took advantage of it.”
Bayern improved to three wins in as many Group A games, five points clear of Atlético de Madrid.
