Juventus: If you don’t want to keep Paulo Dybala, you’re in the wrong
Juventus and Paulo Dybala have been negotiating a new contract for months, yet neither side has been able to come to a compromise.
The exact nature of the impasse is well-established, because the club’s president himself discussed the issue openly. Paulo Dybala wants Juventus to play him like one of the very top players in the world, while the club do not believe he is at that level and would like to see him prove them otherwise before committing to such a contract.
There is no doubt that Juventus value Dybala greatly. They have prioritized his extension and have been working hard on a new deal for La Joya because of his importance to them. Cristiano Ronaldo is the best player in Serie A, but he is 35. Dybala was the MVP of Serie A last season and is 27. He is the superstar of the future for Juve whenever Ronaldo decides to move on to the next challenge, including those challenges beyond the football pitch.
I see a lot of Dybala slander on social media, which is very fickle. For years, Dybala has been one of Serie A’s top players. He scored a career-high 22 goals in a season the year before Ronaldo joined the Bianconeri. He scored 19 goals for Juventus in his first season in Turin. And, of course, last season, he brought so much more than goals with his magic, willingly playing second fiddle to Ronaldo on the scoresheet.
Juventus could not have won Serie A last season without Dybala and Ronaldo. Notice the “and”. Both players were crucial to Juve’s success, and if so many neutral observers around the league can notice Dybala’s importance, then why is it that there are members of the fanbase who cannot help but insult La Joya?
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I will not inflate his value. He is not on the level of Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Kylian Mbappe, and Eden Hazard in individual quality. If I were ranking the top 10 players in European football, I do not think I would put Dybala on the list, because I would also make room for defenders and goalkeepers. On that note, I think it’s fair for Juventini to regard Matthijs de Ligt as more important to the team over the long term than Dybala.
But therein lies the issue. We can pick apart Dybala’s slow start to the season and compare him to his teammates, yet neither of those exercises are ultimately helpful. They are useless and destructive. Dybala’s merits do not need to stand side-by-side with Ronaldo’s or de Ligt’.s They exist in one context and one context only, and that is with regards to how he can elevate this squad in the next three to five years.
Dybala is needed. If you want to make arguments about fiscal responsibility and counter that he is not one of the best in Europe, I would likely agree with your arguments. But what we are discussing here is whether or not a player with 17 goal contributions and at least two dribbles per game and two key passes per game, according to WhoScored.com, last season is valuable to the team.
Of course he is valuable! And if you were to suggest replacing Dybala, who, pray then, would you replace him with? There is nobody available better than Dybala, even if it means shelling out a few more million per year. Memphis Depay and the like have talent, but they may not be realistic and have not produced at one of the world’s elite clubs like Dybala has at Juventus.
Next. Juventus should start Merih Demiral over Leonardo Bonucci. dark
It is fine to be honest about Dybala. The club is honest, which is why they have not been swung into any ill-advised pacts. But it is just as important not to underestimate what Dybala brings to the table and what he has done for the club. He is world-class, and a failure to re-sign him would be a huge loss for the Zebras.