Opinions
Time to end the madness, Juventus and Dybala need to come to a compromise
People will think I’m crazy for writing this article after months of expressing my opinion on what I think about Paulo Dybala and his future at Juventus. I made it no secret, I wanted Juventus to cut ties long before they announced that they would. Although the club and myself are right with the decision, with the benefit of time, I’ve come to the conclusion in Juventus’s case, the directions they choose to take can be changed, as long as the road leads to one thing, winning.
Why did I suspect the club wanted to cut ties with La Joya anyway? Well from my point of view, Dybala had become a luxury player. His talent can not be questioned, besides Messi, I can’t think of a player with a more graceful left foot, but the problem is availability. The fact that he could not be depended on due to the same recurring muscle injuries that had been plaguing him for more than two seasons now and with the wages he and his agent Jorge Antun had been asking, it almost made mine, and I suspect the club’s, decisions to part ways an easy one.
Back in the 2006-2007 season, the captain and Juventus were in a deadlock contract negotiation. Del Piero wanted to be overly compensated and for leverage at the time, he pretty much was the club, especially considering the fact he decided to stay with the Juventus after the Calciopoli scandal that saw them relegated to Serie B. The problem was the club also had leverage, and in a business sense rightly so. Del Piero was 32 and getting close to turning 33 at the time, and with so many matches played for both club and country, there was no guessing how much he really had left in the tank, especially with his game not being tested at the highest levels for a full season.
In the end, we all know what happened, the legend renewed his contract, but for much less than he could have made on the market, and considering the fact Del Piero went on to have some of the greatest seasons of his club playing career, he was well underpaid. Unfortunately, that’s business and Del Piero made his choice. I bet if you could ask him now, he would 100% tell you that he does not regret his decision, even knowing he ended up getting the short end of the stick, because in the end, when you are making that type of money to play a children’s game, money just becomes an issue of pride and getting what you think you deserve.
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The difference in these two contract situations is that Juventus have already announced that they are parting ways. This was after Dybala’s representatives announced that Juventus did not make a real offer. What was once an offer of €10M per season, ended up being reported that Juventus’ counter offer was €8M per season, had dropped all the way down to €6M. At that time, Dybala and his people thought the club was being disingenuous and the next day Maurizio Arrivabene announced that Juventus and Dybala would be parting ways at the end of the season.
It’s clear Dybala is a good person, model citizen, and an all-around class individual, someone I would call “Juventus Material”. After the last two matches, it’s easy to see Dybala loves this club, its supporters, and everything it stands for. I think Dybala and his representatives should schedule a meeting with Juventus that you would like to talk about the contract, and this time accept the role, the playing time, and the contract they are offering you, because like Cristiano Ronaldo is learning that the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. After seeing Ronaldo smash some poor kid’s cell phone, it’s obvious that money can’t always buy happiness. So for Dybala, I think it’s time to end the madness, put your ego aside, make the call, accept the lower offer, and a different role because, in the end, you are one of us, a Juventino!
