David Alaba joins Udinese: ‘older brother’ role

David Alaba was presented on Tuesday as a new Udinese player, saying he’s comfortable taking the role of the club’s “older brother”. The 34-year-old added that he already did the same at Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. “It’s not the first time… I’ve always liked to take on responsibilities,” he said.

The centre-back explained his move was linked to the project presented by coach Kosta Runjaic: “We spoke mainly with the coach. He convinced me of the project… and I took the time I needed to make this decision.” He also confirmed that, despite not playing an official match for several months due to physical issues, he returned to training last week. “I feel very good… I can say that I’m fine and that I feel really good.”

Alaba said he’s mainly settled as a centre-back in recent years, while keeping his “versatility”, and he sounded excited about Serie A, describing it as a competition with “very high quality”.