Even more curious is the apparent apathy from outside Italy. Dybala, a player who previously captured the imagination of Manchester United, Tottenham, Barcelona and Real Madrid, has only received one serious offer from abroad, from Sevilla, that great collector of fragile Argentine forwards. The catch is that it entails a significant salary reduction. One of the best players in Italy is available for free, and a large part of Europe has barely cut.
This is partly due to Dybala himself. His salary expectations exclude an overwhelming majority of clubs. His injury record could give another break. His form, over the past few years, has been a bit inconsistent, although he will no doubt point out that Juventus have barely played in a way that can fetch his best performances.
This may in fact be the most appropriate factor. In an era when most teams play with some version of an attacking trident – two wide players joining in, one central forward used to create space – Dybala does not have a natural home.
He is, by inclination and disposition, a no. 10, a position that in modern football almost ceased to exist. Even Juventus, where the role – as much as the number – carries a certain “weight”, as one of the club’s executives said this year, is abolishing it. Elite football now has no place for what Italian football has long called the fantasist. Dybala may be the last in line.
But the limbo in which Dybala finds himself is also part of a broader trend. Italian football is an increasingly isolated ecosystem, a world in itself. It’s not just that Italian players do not leave Italy as a rule: Only four members called Roberto Mancini’s team for this month’s meeting with Argentina, the so-called Finalissima, who played outside Serie A, the same number he called . to its triumphant group for Euro 2020. It is that the country’s coaches are also traveling less and less. Carlo Ancelotti may have won another Champions League less than a month ago, and Antonio Conte could have helped Tottenham win back his place in Europe’s elite, but those are exceptions rather than the rule.