/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/65488073/1174309721.jpg.0.jpg)
Oh, how things can change over the span of a couple months.
We sat here a few months back wondering what the future holds for Paulo Dybala — and not because it seemed evident that Juventus’ new manager, Maurizio Sarri, was about to build his new-look attack around the club’s current No. 10. With transfer rumors galore, Dybala was no sure thing to appear on Juve’s roster following the closure of the various summer transfer windows across Europe.
Now, as we sit here all of two weeks before we get all dressed up, grab bags of candy on sale at the grocery store and go celebrate Halloween, the vibe surrounding Dybala’s status at Juventus is much, much different than it was over the summer. So much so that there could be a rather significant development with the same people that miiiiight have been trying to strike a big-money deal that would have seen Dybala leave Turin just a couple of months ago.
Da una cessione vicina in estate (la Joya ha detto no a Manchester United e Tottenham) alle prove del possibile rinnovo fino al 2024. Nelle prossime settimane i rappresentanti di Paulo #Dybala si siederanno con la #Juventus per discutere di questa possibilità. #calciomercato
— Nicolò Schira (@NicoSchira) October 15, 2019
Do you need a translation? Here’s the rough translation of Nico’s tweet that first went live a couple of days ago:
After nearly being sold over the summer (La Joya said no to Manchester United and Tottenham) to the possibility of a renewal through 2024. In the coming weeks the representatives of Paulo Dybala will sit down with Juventus to discuss the possibility of a renewal.
Two or three months ago, did you think we’d be here in the middle of October talking about Dybala even possibly getting a contract extension with Juventus? Maybe? Probably not? So much of the talk when it came to Dybala surrounded around the fact that it looked like he was leaving Turin over the summer and that Juventus were more than willing to let that happy. Now ... the possibility of contract extension talks ... come again?
Obviously Dybala’s performance on the field ever since his transfer status was resolved has proven that he has the serious potential to thrive under Sarri’s guidance. It’s a relatively small sample size, sure, but Dybala — whose current contract with Juventus runs through the 2021-22 season and has him as one of the highest-paid players in Serie A — has shown that maybe what he needed was to see his spot at Juve be put to the test to see him rediscover the kind of form that makes him so damn dangerous.
This is something that will surely be something to follow over the next few weeks (and probably months) because contract extensions — especially with somebody who has an intricate rights deal like Dybala does — aren’t always so easy to negotiate. And I’d like to venture, after the kind of transfer rumor-filled summer we just watched from afar, that Dybala’s representatives aren’t going to be all that in the mood just to see their client sign a contract extension just so his market value stays at a certain level.
Basically, Dybala wanted to stay — and a contract extension will only further that notion.