Paulo Dybala signs a three-year contract deal with AS Roma, with a €20m compensation clause. Argentine forward Paulo Dybala has moved to AS Roma from Juventus on a free transfer, the club confirmed on Wednesday.
Dybala in Roma will need to find a way to communicate with Mourinho or face a career setback.
Will Paolo be successful under Mourinho? This summer transfer window so far is rich in high-profile acquisitions – Paul Pogba left for Juventus, Bayern acquired Matthijs de Ligt, and Erling Haaland moved to Manchester City. Another one happened today – Paulo Dybala said goodbye to Juventus and signed a contract with Roma. In the new team waiting for him other challenges, new roles, and Jose Mourinho as the head coach of the Romans.
If Mourinho wants to get the most out of this transfer, he will have to solve the dilemma of placing Dybala on the field – the player’s career at Juventus shows that he fully reveals his potential in certain positions. Massimiliano Allegri, the head coach of the Turin club, moved the Argentine gradually from the central striker position to the “ten” position after his arrival with the Old Lady.
In Rome, the place in the center of attack will not give the Argentine so easily – Tammy Abraham has already played well there, so it will be better for the team to leave the Englishman in the same place. It would be logical to switch to the scheme 4-2-3-1 – that’s how Juventus played in Paulo’s successful season. It’s also how the Romans played at the start of last season and in the middle. Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Lorenzo Pelligrini shared playing time with this formation under the striker. Given that the Armenian left, the acquisition of Dybala is logical – he will add variability to the attack.
However, it is worth considering that Juventus, under Allegri, has been more proactive than Mourinho’s Roma. The Portuguese built his career on playing second-string and now often has a deeper footing when taking the ball. Paulo will probably need to be involved in defensive action, which means that once he has possession, he will be further away from the other side of the pitch. A possible solution to the problem could be a switch to a pair of Abraham-Dybala strikers.
Jose is famous for his fiery interviews – they clearly describe the Portuguese’s demands on the players who make it into his team’s lineup. On the other hand, the Argentine forward is considered a player who needs to be approached to adjust his game model and find the optimal position. The fact that Paulo’s productivity at Juventus went down after Ronaldo’s arrival is evidence of that. Allegri immediately restructured the scheme for the Portuguese forward and began to place the Argentine on the right side more often. The game didn’t work out there and Dybala slowed down – he never quite got his form back.
Jose could go all over the team during a press conference, which would not be fine for the team’s mood. The situation is somewhat similar to his relationship with Pogba at Manchester United – the Frenchman is also considered a mood player, although more selfish and lazy on the pitch than Dybala. But the analogies hint that Mourinho might simply “eat up” Paulo, and he would sink and lose a few years of his soccer career.
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