Bayern Munich defender David Alaba has left the door open for a potential move to the Premier League in the future.
The 27-year-old, who supported Arsenal as a child, suggested that he could imagine himself playing for a club other than German champions Bayern in the future .
Alaba joined Bayern in 2008 as a 16-year-old and has gone on to make over 350 appearances for the club in all competitions since being promoted to the senior team two years later.
The Austria international's contract expires at the end of the 2020-21 season and, should he choose not to renew his terms, Bayern may be forced to part ways with him in the summer.
“We’ll see [what happens in the future],” Alaba told The Times. “I know the Premier League very well because I followed it a lot when I was younger. I supported Arsenal. Patrick Vieira was one of my favourite players.
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“At the moment I don’t think too much about it, but I can imagine playing somewhere else.”
Despite hinting at a potential future transfer move, Alaba reiterated his focus on helping his current club achieve their immediate goals – namely retaining their Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal crowns and winning the Champions League.
“I am very focused on Bayern Munich,” Alaba continued. “We really want to reach our goals and I really want to help the team.
“We’re in a good way to reach our goals in the Bundesliga, in the Pokal [cup] and maybe also to make a dream come true in the Champions League.
“We know that it is all about the small things to win the Champions League, the little details and what I know is we have a great team and a great team spirit. You can see that in our training and in our game at the moment.”
Bayern endured a rocky start to their Bundesliga title defence but have clawed back the deficit and are now second in the table and in the midst of a fierce title race, with just three points separating league leaders RB Leipzig from Borussia Dortmund and Borussia Monchengladbach in third and fourth, respectively.
They have also drawn Chelsea in the last 16 of the Champions League after topping their group with six straight wins.