Real Madrid might just have got the biggest boost among their summer transfer targets so far. The La Liga leaders have reportedly edged past arch rivals Barcelona in the race to sign Serie A sensation Paulo Dybala. The Juventus striker has been outstanding this season with numerous clubs including the La Liga giants chasing him.
Choosing between Real and Barca has always been a monumental task for any player but Dybala, apparently, has his option quite clear where he would join if he decided to leave Juventus. The 23-year-old Argentine international wishes to join Real Madrid in the future. And although there are still three years left on his contract, which expires in 2020, there are already reports of the player reaching a verbal agreement with Real chief Florentino Perez for a move in the summer.
Surely, Juventus would not be willing to part ways with one of their best players, but they haven’t yet opened contract talks with the player. Dybala still has three years left and their complacency is understandable. And Real and Barcelona have been trying to take advantage of his situation.
A pleasant surprise for Real Madrid, according to Spanish publication Diario Gol, has been that Dybala doesn’t want to play with Lionel Messi and Neymar. And it is not very difficult to understand his reason as he doesn’t want to get overshadowed by Barca’ famous trio. Even with that, Real won’t get Dybala for cheap as Juventus is unlikely to sell their goal machine for below £100m. Apparently, Real are desperate to bring him in as they are willing to offer Isco, Alvaro Morata or Mateo Kovacic to Juventus for an exchange deal.
Dybala has scored eight goals and six assists in 21 Serie A appearances so far being one of their most consistent performers. He has been directly involved in 9 goals in their last 10 games in all competitions. Since arriving at Juventus from Palermo in 2015, Dybala has scored 37 goals and 16 assists in 78 games for Juventus.
A centre-forward by nature, Dybala can also play equally well on the flanks; which exactly explains why Barcelona want him badly. Lionel Messi is slowly moving to a more central position with age where more vision and technique would be required, rather than agility and high stamina. Real, on the other hand, sees Dybala as their centre-forward with Karim Benzema nearing an exit.
Dybala has an average passing accuracy of 86% and it can only be imagined how dangerous Real’s link-up play would be when Dybala starts alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, Luka Modric and Gareth Bale.
