Juventus manager Andrea Pirlo has firmly dismissed the idea of parting ways with forward Paulo Dybala at the end of the season.
The Argentine will enter the final 12 months of his contract at the club this summer, and with talks over an extension dragging on for months, there have been countless reports suggesting that Dybala could be on his way out of the club.
Speculation has been rife for months, but speaking in a press conference ahead of his side’s meeting with Genoa on Sunday, Pirlo did his best to shoot down the stories as quickly as possible.
“I’ve always said Dybala is an important player and unfortunately I haven’t had him at my disposal very much this season,” Pirlo said (via the Daily Mail).
“Let’s look at the present, because that is more important than the future. He still has a year left on his contract, so we will have him here next season. Dybala is a player who makes the difference.”
Despite Pirlo’s insistence, reports elsewhere continue to link Dybala with a move away. The press in Italy suggest that the 27-year-old is one of seven players who could be sold this summer to help cope with losses of close to £100m from the first half of the 2020/21 season.
Alongside Dybala, Merih Demiral, Alex Sandro, Adrien Rabiot, Aaron Ramsey and Federico Bernardeschi could all be sold, while Juventus also hope to offload Mattia De Sciglio to Lyon permanently after his loan deal comes to an end.
90min revealed in December that Dybala’s representatives had reached out to the Premier League‘s ‘big six’ to discuss a potential deal for the forward.
The uncertainty surrounding his contract has been just one of many problems Dybala has faced this season. He has managed just 12 Serie A appearances so far, with a knee injury robbing him of three months earlier this year.
The Argentine made his long-awaited return in the recent 2-1 win over Napoli, and Pirlo is clearly looking forward to having the Argentine back in his starting lineup soon.
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