Report: Juventus open contract extension talks with Paulo Dybala

This time last season, Paulo Dybala was mired in a slump and playing out of position, trying to find the kind of form that made him so crucial to Juventus’ success. Because of those struggles, paying him an even heftier salary than he already has to his name was probably going to be perceived as something that the club’s management might end up regretting.

That was then.

This is now — and it’s a whole different kind of situation.

After hearing a month and a half ago that Juventus were preparing to open contract talks with Dybala and his representatives, it looks as though the first steps in locking La Joya down for the foreseeable future has taken place. According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Juventus has submitted their first proposal to Dybala’s representatives, an offer of €9 million per season net with a contract running through 2024, which would make him the second-highest earner in Serie A behind Cristiano Ronaldo.

With the kind of form Dybala has been in this season, I think it’s safe to say keeping him happy — and in bianconero — is going to benefit all parties involved.

Of course, all of this might not have been put into motion if not for all the drama taking place over the summer with the real possibility of Dybala leaving being very much a thing throughout late July and much of August. Even as reports came out that indirectly stated Dybala’s desire to stay, there were just as many reports saying that he was on the market and the subject of bids from a handful of clubs, namely Tottenham and Manchester United.

None of that happened.

And thank goodness it didn’t.

Revitalized under Maurizio Sarri, Dybala is back to being one of Juventus’ best players. Because of that, keeping Dybala with Juventus — his current contract runs until 2022, a deal he signed in April 2017 — is basically the only thing possible at this point. At 26 years old, Dybala is entering the prime of his career, and the way he is playing this season he is about deserving as anybody who is rumored to be in talks to receive a contract extension in the near future. (It’s only a matter of time before Wojciech Szczesny follows Juan Cuadrado and Leonardo Bonucci and makes his contract extension officially official.)

With so much uncertainty surrounding Dybala during the final weeks of the summer transfer window, to see him now in a position to continue to play at Juventus — and be handsomely rewarded for it — is about as good of a situation as we could have hoped for. Dybala is happy, he is playing as well as he has in about 18 months and the performances he is putting forward speak for themselves.

Next up (and hopefully it’s sooner rather than later) seems to be a contract extension — and that’s even more good news for Juve’s No. 10.