The soap opera about the future of Paulo Dybala aims to be very long. This afternoon Juventus postponed the meeting with the Argentine’s agents, which was scheduled for tomorrow and, barring further surprises, will take place at the end of March. It is another negative sign about a renovation that was practically closed in December and that is now more complicated than ever.
The striker, before Christmas, had closed an agreement with the Vecchia Signora for a salary of around nine million euros net plus variables. The club, however, asked him to wait until after the winter market for signings. And, in January, everything happened.
CEO Arrivabene publicly stated that Dybala “must demonstrate that value” and that he must “understand the weight of Juve’s number 10”. The player was not amused, and on January 15, after scoring a goal against Udinese, he looked defiantly at the box and then stated that “he has nothing to prove”. Most likely, the arrival of Vlahovic has changed the economic plans of the Juventus entity, which will put on the table a downward proposal with respect to what had been agreed.
Despite his physical problems, the Argentine is the bianconero who has scored the most goals this season (12). His contract expires on June 30, and signing as a free agent a striker who scored 112 points and 42 assists in 281 appearances with Juventus It is an opportunity that many of Europe’s greats are thinking about.
Beppe Marotta’s Inter, the manager who brought him to Turin, has been testing his situation for some time, something that, as AS learned, Atlético de Madrid is also doing. Sports director Andrea Berta likes the Argentine a lot, and the colchoneros had contacts with his environment in recent months.
A market opportunity that the club is analyzing for a profile that has already sounded several times in these years. In 2018, the meeting between Dybala and Simeone in a restaurant in Madrid caused a stir. The coach later explained that it was a casual face-to-face meeting, although he took the opportunity to express his appreciation: “I spoke with Dybala, I told him what I thought of him: that he is a great player. There was no more”.
Inter and Atleti have gone ahead in a race that, very soon, will also involve other teams from Spain and England, as long as Juve does not change its position. Something that, after what happened this afternoon, seems even more unlikely.