Arriving at Juventus in January with much fanfare, Dusan Vlahovic might have brought goals with him at the Allianz Stadium, but he also appears to have sealed the future of Paulo Dybala, who will now leave on a free transfer this summer.
Because of his purchase and the way Max Allegri operates, the Argentine no longer is the main focus of the Serie A side planning, which is why they weren’t as desperate to give him the big wages he was asking for to renew.
That immediately put the likes of Tottenham Hotspur on alert, but there was always some hope from Juventus’ end that Dybala would accept a modified offer, since losing a player of his ilk on a free would always be a blow, even if he was no longer as important.
However, Monday’s meeting between the Argentina international’s representatives and his club made it clear no middle ground would be found, thus meaning his future would be far away from Turin.
How far? That remains to be seen, but both Gazzetta dello Sport and Corriere dello Sport suggest a move to the Premier League, where Tottenham would welcome him with open arms, is a real possibility.
Once close to moving to England when Manchester United were interested, Dybala has never seemed overly keen to try out football on these shores, but the situation at Spurs could change matters.
Gazzetta, for example, explain ‘it’s right to pay attention’ to what Tottenham do, ‘if only for the presence of Fabio Paratici’, who was the one to sign the forward for Juventus all those years ago.
As for Corriere, they go into a bit more detail, explaining that ‘Spurs are always interested, even more so now that Paratici is in charge of the technical area and Antonio Conte sits on the bench’.
That’s because the manager ‘has always respected’ Dybala as a player, and while the playmaker ‘has never considered England as a first option’, he also ‘is not close to the idea a priori’, because, after all, he now needs to find himself a new home.
Tottenham are described as being ‘in the front row’ with Barcelona, but whether they manage to see off the competition remains to be seen.
