In a recent edition of ‘Here We Go Podcast‘, renowned journalist Fabrizio Romano provided an update on Chelsea‘s pursuit of Juventus playmaker Paulo Dybala as he revealed that the Blues have not made contact with the player of his agent. Romano said (transcripted by Football.London),
“Someone is asking me about Dybala because he is not extending at the moment his contract with Juventus, so there is nothing decided, but if he doesn’t extend his contract with Juventus before the summer, I think he will leave Juventus.
“I want to say that Chelsea have not made any contact with Dybala or his agent.
“They want to defend players like (Kai) Havertz or (Hakim) Ziyech. They are happy with them.
“Obviously, they need time to be at their best level, in particular Havertz needs time, he’s so young, but they spend like €100m on Havertz, so they don’t want to say after one year we’ll go with Dybala and Havertz will sit on the bench, so at the moment there is nothing between Chelsea and Dybala”
Dybala’s Underwhelming Season At Turin
Dybala has struggled to leave a positive impression with his performances at the Allianz Stadium this season as he has failed to be consistent with his productivity in the final third. The Argentine sensation has featured in 16 matches for the Italian giants this term, finding the back of the net on three occasions and securing two assists in multiple competitions.
Despite his lack of end-product in front of the opposition goal, the 27-year-old deserves a lot of credit for averaging 2.6 shots, 1.8 key passes and 1.4 dribbles per game in the Serie A this season. He has even been careful when interchanging possession with his teammates as evidenced by his pass completion rate of 88% in the Italian first division (stats via whoscored).
What Does The Argentine Attacker Bring To The Table?
Dybala remains one of the quickest players in the Serie A and is capable of completing some dangerous dribbles in the attacking third. He can retain possession in tight spaces using his excellent balance, composure and ball control when making runs out on the wide areas.
The 29-time Argentina international has got the vision to play a killer pass inside the opponent’s penalty area and can strike the ball with power and precision from long range. However, his form this season has been far from convincing, which makes him a gamble for any top side in Europe, including Chelsea.
What Should Be Lampard’s Play With Regards To Dybala?
The Blues boss Frank Lampard has got a plethora of attacking talents in his squad, so there is no immediate need for him to sign a new forward this month. The likes of Timo Werner, Tammy Abraham and Olivier Giroud are more than capable of carrying most of the goal-scoring workload as long as Lampard can find a way to get the best out of them in the second half of this campaign. With all things considered, the West London giants are better off strengthening some of the other areas of their squad and not move in for Dybala during this January transfer window.
