Report: Despite newest round of rumors, Paulo Dybala wants to stay at Juventus

With the end of July in sight, it also means that we’re approaching the final stretch of another summer transfer rumor that has seen Juventus do plenty of adding to its roster yet still not very much subtracting. And with what has now become a couple of weeks to go in the summer transfer window, there seems to be one quite handsome elephant still in the room.

What is Juventus going to do with Paulo Dybala?

With plenty of interest from around Europe still hanging around, according to Italian media outlets over the last week, the possibility of Dybala leaving does seem like a legitimate possibility. However, according to Sky Sport Italia this weekend, Dybala’s intentions are just as they were a couple of months ago when talk of him leaving Turin this summer truly got going — Juventus’ current No. 10 wants to remain the club’s No. 10.

The basis is that Dybala — who Sky says may very well return early from his post-Copa America vacation — wants to prove himself in Maurizio Sarri’s attack-minded system. Yes, the same Sarri who just a few days back was very complimentary of Dybala, suggesting that Juventus’ No. 10 could very well be false 9 he’s looking for with Cristiano Ronaldo starting the season out his customary position out on the left wing.

This comes when Dybala — as well as Brazilian winger Douglas Costa — has been rumored to be a piece in Juventus trying to sign current Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku, who has been the eye of Inter Milan for pretty much the entire summer.

On Sunday morning, Tuttosport reported that United want €85 million for Lukaku, while Juventus currently value Dybala at €100 million, meaning the Red Devils would have to fork over at least another €15 million if they wanted any kind of swap deal to go down before the Premier League window ends on Aug. 8. (Yes, it’s that early this season.)

So if you’re as perplexed as I am as to where Dybala will be playing his football next season, I guess I’m glad that I’m not the only one.

One could harken back to what Juventus Director of Football Fabio Paratici said in late-April that Dybala isn’t on the transfer market and that the club intends to keep a player who has struggled for consistency over the last two seasons. It’s impossible to see now three months later if that Paratici quote will hold true — there’s been plenty of changes to the roster, Lukaku might be somebody that Sarri prefers over Dybala, and so on and so on.

At this point, though, who knows. It seems like the last couple weeks of the transfer window will be a complete guessing game as to who’s staying and who will be offloaded.