Reports: Juventus, at long last, agree to contract extension with Paulo Dybala

Paulo Dybala’s agent has reportedly headed back to Argentina. There are only two things that would cause this to happen knowing that he’s spent the better part of the last two months conducting meetings with the Juventus front office: Paulo Dybala is either going to sign a contract extension in very short order or talks between the two sides have broken down again.

The good thing is that the second option isn’t on the table, and Jorge Antun has gone back to Argentina because there’s — FINALLY — going to be some sort of announcement happening, potentially very soon.

One of the longest-running stories we’ve covered on this website does appear to be heading toward a positive ending. Seriously. It looks legit this time. According to Fabiana Della Valle of La Gazzetta dello Sport and Romeo Agresti of Goal Italia, Antun’s trip back to Argentina is because he and Juventus have agreed to the major framework of Dybala’s contract extension. The deal, one that we were first writing about before lockdown in Italy took place over a year and a half ago, will see Dybala sign through the 2024-25 season and have him become Juve’s highest-paid player, surpassing Matthijs de Ligt.

It is reported that Dybala’s deal could go as high as €10 million, with an €8 million net base salary and another €2 million in bonuses. The base salary can increase to €9 million net if certain performance goals are met.

Antun, who arrived in Italy during the final days of the summer transfer window, will reportedly handle the final steps of the deal by phone. (Which, couldn’t he have done all of this by phone or video conference?)

So, I just want to remind you how long we’ve been talking about this certain topic. We first posted about contract extension talks reportedly being started back in early December of 2019. TWO-THOUSAND NINETEEN, folks. That was just a few months removed from Dybala coming off the Serie A MVP season under Maurizio Sarri, and it was a time when Juventus’ financial climate was a whole lot different than it is right now.

A main reason why Dybala’s contract extension is constructed the way it is, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport, is because of Juventus’ attempt to be more financially responsible. That is something that new Chief Football Officer Federico Cherubini has discussed when asked about previous topics regarding the transfer market, and it makes complete sense that it extends to the salary structure at the club in general.

But to finally see the light at the end of the tunnel when it comes Dybala’s extension will hopefully be a massive weight off the player’s shoulders knowing full well his current contract ends at the end of the current season. These negotiations have been going on for, as far as we know, the better part of the last 20 months. That’s a lot of time. We’ve been waiting for the picture of Dybala signing his new contract for months now, and hopefully this means that snap is not too far away.