Paulo Dybala Has Quickly Become The Centre Of Jose Mourinho’s Roma Project

Few Roma fans would’ve argued against the potential signing of Paulo Dybala last summer. The Argentine had been on the market for months after being told in no uncertain terms by Juventus that his time at the club was at an end.

Juve’s decision to sign Dusan Vlahovic in the January transfer window had effectively sealed Dybala’s fate, they were going to build the team around the deadly Serb forward and surround him with wingers – in the shape of Federico Chiesa and Angel Di Maria – and pivot to a 4-3-3.

During Dybala’s time in Turin, it became evident that he was tactically inflexible, capable of playing only in a few formations. A 4-3-3 wasn’t one of them, and so the writing was on the wall. Moreover, Dybala’s salary demands weren’t believed to be in keeping with the world Juve now inhabited post-pandemic, and so the decision was made to let him go after seven years.

Inter had long been thought to be Dybala’s next home considering Beppe Marotta, the man who brought him to Turin from Palermo, was now sporting director at the Nerazzurri. Yet Inter jumped at the chance to bring Romelu Lukaku back to the club, and this left Dybala in a very precarious decision.

He was seemingly shopped around the European giants, most of whom were worried about being tactically straightjacketed and his injury issues, which had built up over his last two seasons at Juve. Injuries had never been part of the Dybala narrative until he took Covid during the first outbreak, and his body has never been the same since.

He has stockpiled injuries ever since and clubs were wary of investing in him with little guarantee of Dybala being able to get through an entire season without picking up some sort of muscle problem.

Mere weeks before the Serie A season was about to begin, Roma went all in for Dybala, and by the end of July he signed with the Giallorossi, amid hysteria not seen in the capital over a signing since Gabriel Batistuta in 2000.

The lack of interest in Dybala was apparent in the wages Roma are paying him. He was demanded €10m net from Juventus a year ago; he signed for Roma nine months later for €4.5m per-season. The days of players like Dybala, on their day world class but never consistent, earning fat paycheques are over, at least away from the money saturated PremierPINC
League.

However, Dybala has been worth the money thus far. In fact, he’s been arguably Roma’s best player in the early stages of the season, and has become indispensable for Jose Mourinho.

Usually utilised behind Tammy Abraham in a 4-2-3-1 or a Christmas tree-like 4-3-2-1, Dybala has been in his best form for years. In 10 appearances, Dybala has scored six times and provided two assists and is by far and away Roma’s top scorer already. He’s overshadowing last season’s darling Abraham at the moment, to the extent that Abraham, whether through Dybala’s presence or just through a downturn in form, hasn’t got going this season.

Abraham has only scored twice this season, and has had some of the spotlight taken from him. Yet Dybala is thriving under Mourinho, and spoke of the differences between he and his old coach at Juventus Max Allegri.

“I believe that there is a lot of similarities between he [Allegri] and Mou, and others ways not,” said Dybala after the Europa League defeat to Real Betis. “With Mourinho we speak a lot, and we have a better rapport with respect to the one I had with Allegri, with him we didn’t agree on a lot of things, but always for the good of Juve.”

Mourinho used all of his charisma in bringing Dybala to Rome, with Dybala previously stating that within minutes of a phone call from the Portuguese legend, he’d already decided to move to the Italian capital.

And so far, so good. Dybala has quickly become the centre of Mourinho’s project, and should he stay healthy – a big ask considering the last two years – Roma could cement a top four position in Serie A, the primary objective for the season.