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Juventus striker Paulo Dybala outlines why he won't be going to the Olympics

Hint: He's got important things to take care of in Turin.

Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images

When Paulo Dybala expressed his disappointment that wasn't going to the Copa América this summer, all of our "WHAT THE HELL?" moments were directed more at Argentina than it was Juventus. But when Dybala later said that Juventus essentially prevented that the Argentinian starlet couldn't go to the Olympics in Brazil, the same kind of initial response might have been thrown in the club's direction more than anything.

He stated "Juventus won't give me permission to go to Rio" to take part in the Olympics. About a month later, Dybala has given us the reasoning behind why he won't be playing for Argentina when the Summer Olympics roll around.

"Olympics? I spoke to the club, the directors and the coach. They evaluated all options, they have winning the Champions League as the objective and they want that everyone prepare well. Last year we didn't have a good retreat and during the season we had 40 injuries. This is why they want everyone available at the retreat."

(Source: Gianluca Di Marzio)

There are two main things to do with Juventus thinking the way they have.

  1. As they've recently posted on their official website, Juventus' summer tour through Australia and Hong Kong begins in a little over three weeks.
  2. As of this post going live on the internet, the Summer Olympics get underway in Rio in a little over five weeks. The games begin on Aug. 5.

As you've probably noticed, that's a little bit of a time conflict — especially when it comes to preseason training.

For a club, like Dybala said, that has serious aspirations of challenging for the Champions League this next season — hint hint they ain't selling Paul Pogba hint hint — having one of your most important players coming back to Italy a week or two before the Serie A campaign gets underway is, well, not exact the most ideal of scenarios. Not only would Dybala be risking injury if he were to be going to Brazil to play in the Olympics, he would also be losing valuable time during preseason preparations.

The last thing Juventus need is for somebody other than Claudio Marchisio to miss the early stages of the season and the Champions League group stage due to injury. And the last thing Paulo Dybala wants to have happen is to be that guy. As much as Dybala wanted to represent his country either at the Copa América or the Olympics, this won't be his only chance if he continues to develop like he did over the 2015-16 season. He's pretty, pretty good, you know.