What Are Serie A Giants Juventus Going To Do About Paulo Dybala’s Expiring Contract?

It has been a few turbulent weeks for Juventus and their star player Paulo Dybala.

The 28-year-old Argentina international, whose contract at Juventus is expiring on June 30, 2022, has not yet agreed to an extension with the club.

Many Bianconeri fans have begun wondering whether these could be Dybala’s last months wearing the black-and-white striped jersey.

Alongside Dybala, there are another four Juventus players running out of contract at the end of the 2021/22 Serie A campaign. These are 33-year-old Colombian winger Juan Cuadrado, UEFA Euro 2020 champion Federico Bernardeschi, full-back Mattia de Sciglio and back-up goalkeeper Mattia Perin.

When interviewed last night by Italian media company Mediaset ahead of the Coppa Italia match against Sampdoria, Juventus’s CEO Maurizio Arrivabene said that next month, the club is going to deal with all contract situations.

“We will talk about it (the expiring contracts) in February,” Arrivabene said. “It’s not just Dybala, there are other contract renewals.”

The question about Dybala’s contract renewal is the one sparking the biggest conversation in the Italian soccer community, who regards him as one of the most technically gifted Serie A footballers.

A left-footed offensive player, Dybala can feature as a second striker, attacking midfielder or even a false nine. In this 2021/22 season, he has already scored 11 goals in 22 matches across all competitions (Serie A, UEFA Champions League and Coppa Italia).

Besides displaying a natural instinct for finding the back of the net, Dybala on the pitch stands out for his unique soccer IQ, which often allows him to pick out passing lanes for his teammates and therefore be a difference maker with his assists.

Nicknamed La Joya (“The Jewel”) for his creativity, Dybala was awarded the Serie A Most Valuable Player in the 2019/20 season under former Juventus manager Maurizio Sarri.

Prior to the Christmas holidays, Dyabla was set to ink a five-year contract extension worth $9 million/year plus $2.3m in bonuses, per Sky Sport in Italy. The new deal would have made Dybala the highest-paid player in Turin, overtaking Dutch center-back Matthijs de Ligt in this ranking.

The relationship between Dybala and Juventus, however, has suddenly strained over the last few weeks, partly due to the player suffering another soft-tissue injury.

Physical setbacks are in fact one of the main reasons that are making the club hesitant about granting Dybala such a lucrative, long-term deal. To worsen the situation, Juventus have to face the fact that they are currently operating under challenging financial circumstances partly caused by the pandemic.

But while the club executives are taking their time to carefully evaluate the best possible scenario, they are aware that waiting too long might mean losing a highly-talented striker at no cost: If Dybala doesn’t sign a contract renewal between now and the end of the 2021/22 Serie A season, he will become a free agent on July 1, 2022.

Inevitably, there have been transfer rumors linking Dybala to some of the most prestigious clubs in European soccer, including Juventus’s arch rivals Inter Milan.

Meanwhile, the Bianconeri fans have openly shown their support for Dybala: Last night, as he was celebrating his 3-1 goal in the Coppa Italia match, they started to chant, “Dybala, stay in Turin,” as a sign of appreciation for La Joya.

Serie A clubs will have time until Monday, Jan. 31 to complete transfer moves in the current calciomercato window.