What's the story?
A rivalry between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona is an eternal one and along with on-field enmity, many battles have been fought off the field too between these two great sides. With both the clubs being giants of world football, it is obvious that they might target the same world class players who the clubs think that can enhance their already brilliant squad.
One such player who is set to cause a transfer battle between the La Liga teams is Paulo Dybala who has been in the spotlight since emerging onto the scene at Juventus. In a recent turn of events, it is believed that Dybala prefers a move to Real than to the Catalans, according to Marca.
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Dybala's current deal expires in 2020 with the club hoping the player to sign a year extension which will see Dybala getting a much-deserved pay raise. Juventus want to include a huge buyout clause in his new contract to fend off interests from potential suitors with all the superpowers of football interested in the 23-year-old.
Dybala's agent wants a bigger wage deal than the club is offering, which in turn has stalled the talks. The Old Lady are set to offer a new deal worth €5.5 million per year which is one million more than his present contract with the club. Gonzalo Higuain is Juventus' highest paid player at €7 million per year with Dybala's agent wanting a figure similar to his client's national teammate.
The heart of the matter
FC Barcelona are interested in the former Palermo forward with the club seeing Dybala as the perfect player to take over from Lionel Messi. But it has been learned that Dybala has rejected advances from many clubs and the 23-year-old is waiting for Real Madrid to make a move for him.
Dybala scored 19 Serie A goals in his first season in Turin, and this season he has scored three and assisted two more. Real manager Zinedine Zidane is said to be impressed with the Argentine and has been regularly monitoring his progress at the Old Lady.
What next?
Juventus will try everything in their power to make Dybala sign a one-year extension which will see them receive a huge transfer fee if the forward chooses to leave. It seems that the Argentine has made up his mind to move in the summer and it will be very hard to convince him to stay with the Italian giants.
After Paul Pogba's move to Manchester United last summer, Juventus are in no pressure financially to offload Dybala and hence it will need a huge fee from the Spanish side to price him away from Juventus.
Sportskeeda's take
Paulo Dybala is one of the best young talents in the world and is touted by many to break the Messi-Ronaldo monopoly. Juventus will do well if they keep him for at least one season but it is no rocket science that Dybala will be seen in the famous white kit of Real Madrid very very soon.
