#2 Paulo Dybala – Juventus
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Preferred position: Striker in 4-3-1-2 or 4-3-2-1 or Advanced midfielder in 4-2-3-1
Market value: €75m
When Paulo Dybala landed in Italy from Argentinian 2nd division club Instituto in 2012, he wasn’t even 19. Internazionale FC’s sporting directors didn’t trust him and refused to complete the deal with his agent. Fiery Palermo President, Maurizio Zamparini, figured out he could become an important player for his team. Dybala scored only three goals in his first Serie A season, which ended up with Palermo relegated in 2nd Division.
After that, the 2006 World Champion and former AC Milan midfielder Gennaro Gattuso was appointed as a manager. Before being fired, he taught Dybala how to cope with the defending style of the Italian League. During those years, training with Gattuso as a defender against him, he learnt to protect the ball, to pass quick and to dribble only when it’s useful. He exploded the next year, with Palermo returning to Serie A.
(Video Courtesy: Teo CRi YouTube Channel)
His manager, Iachini, counted on him and Andrea Belotti, but unfortunately, due to many reasons, the duo didn’t work out. Therefore, he decided to cut off Belotti, lining up Dybala as a sole striker, closer to the goal. That was a brilliant idea, resulting in the season ending up with La Joya (The Jewel, as he was called in Argentina yet) scoring 13, before being sold to Juventus for almost €40m.
The evolution has been completed by his current manager, Max Allegri, who asked him to be more involved in the game, with more passes and touches.
Although it wasn’t easy for Dybala to accept playing far from the penalty box, the manager went ahead with his plan. The rising star is now the model of the midfield-to-box striker: he can cover a lot of space on the pitch, and providing assists and goals (22 last year, 12 in the current season so far). As Real Madrid couldn’t convince him to leave Juventus last summer, could his future be at Barcelona, to play in the post-Messi era?
