Dybala, will he say goodbye to Roma in January? The offer and the scenarios

by Alessandro Colepio

The disappointing season so far Romamade up of many defeats and 3 coaches changed in the space of 4 months, is also due to the disappointing performance of Paulo Dybala. In the summer, the Argentine playmaker seemed very close to saying goodbye to the capital and moving to Saudi Arabia, then due to a combination of factors (including, it seems, the will of his family) he decided to remain with the Giallorossi for the current season too.

A choice that has tied the Roman fans even more to their number 21, but which for now does not seem to have paid off. Dybala has so far taken the field 18 times in the championship and cups, scoring on the scoresheet only 2 goals and 1 assist. Numbers too low for the man who, cards in hand, should be the offensive leader of the team.

Paulo Dybala (@Shutterstock)

The Argentine’s difficult start to the season

Blaming only the player would be too simple. Of course, the former Juve player’s performance is definitely not what he has accustomed us to in recent years, but a couple of clarifications need to be made. First: in all likelihood Dybala should not have remained at Roma, he was ready to face a new chapter in his career and the club had identified Matias Soulé his ideal successor.

Secondly, between module changes and an agreement that never blossomed with Dobvyk (another big disappointment so far), Dybala seems more and more like a foreign body in the dynamics of a Roma that seeks its security more in play on the flanks than in the central area of the pitch.

In the first championship races, those under the guidance of De Rossithe Argentine was often used during the match, leaving more space for the new signing Soulé, with whom he never seemed too compatible.

After the dismissal of the former Giallorossi captain, Juric before and Ranieri then they put Paulo back at the center of the technical project, spending honeyed words on the most creative player in the squad. The reality, however, is very different. Today Roma are in enormous difficulty, the team is unable to express an effective game and Dybala also seems far from the ideal physical condition to make a difference.

Roma (@Shutterstock)

Dybala’s future

Having established that Dybala is not the only problem of this team and that the disappointing performances do not depend only on him, the managers of the Capitoline club still have a big problem to solve on their hands. The number 21’s contract expires in June and, in all likelihood, will not be renewed.

There are two possible scenarios: Either Dybala will say goodbye to Roma in January, or he could remain in the Giallorossi for another year. Not that it is possible to extract large sums from a 31-year-old player in the midst of the worst season of his career, mind you, but at least Roma would save money on wages and could end this season learning to do without their star player.

Two other elements must be added to this picture, given that in the Argentine’s contract there are two clauses of great importance: the first is a €12 million release clausevalid only for foreign countries from 1 to 15 January; the other is that of automatic renewal for another seasonwhich will start as soon as Dybala plays another 8 games of at least 45 minutes.

Giving up Dybala in January would mean depriving the team of its best player practically halfway through the championship, further antagonizing the fans, keeping him would mean triggering the automatic renewal and being back to square one in the summer.

In the background of this complicated story there is the Galatasaraywho in recent days has started contact with the agent of the former Juventus player: on the table is a maxi contract worth 10 million euros per season. According to the Corriere dello Sportthe release clause appears clearly out of market. Simply put, either it closes before New Year’s Eve or we will talk about it again after January 15th.

The Dybala soap opera, which kept Roma fans in suspense throughout the summer, has not yet found a conclusion.