Having been linked with nearly every top five side in England, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard of Palermo starlet Paulo Dybala.
With 13 goals and 10 assists in 33 games in Serie A, the 21 year old has turned heads and attracted interest from Manchester United, Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal, with it now seeming that he will sign a contract with the Bianconeri this year.
He has been compared to compatriots Sergio Agüero and Javier Pastore as well as the Italian Vincenzo Montella (the current Fiorentina manager) due to his exquisite close control in very small spaces, and having that coveted ability to create something out of nothing.
In comparison to Agüero specifically, he poses far less of a physical threat than Agüero, and whilst being very quick off the mark, he doesn’t have the explosive pace and strength that we in the Premier League have been admiring in Agüero for years.
However he matches (and maybe even surpasses) the Manchester City star in his dribbling capabilities, with some of his goals for Palermo being simply mesmerising to watch, almost akin to another compatriot of his – Lionel Messi.
Having formed a successful partnership with team-mate and countryman Franco Vázquez, Dybala is especially effective on the counter-attack, beating offside traps by milliseconds with his excellent awareness and footballing intelligence.
Despite not being the most physically imposing frontman, Dybala has an extraordinary work rate, often seen tracking back and getting in amongst it (usually when defending a lead) and so can put in a strong tackle here and there.
When drawing comparisons with playing style however, much of his creative work and runs made are similar to that of Messi, a player wholly relying on his fantastic technical ability to get him out of trouble and to create and score goals.
He offers complete attacking versatility, being able to play in virtually every attacking position due to him being confident with both feet and with his head as well.
Dybala has shown signs of a cold-blooded clinical finisher, as well as someone who can pick out a pass and create a goal – both skill-sets being invaluable in the modern game.
It begs the question, why are teams such as United and Arsenal holding back? Why aren’t they clamouring for this lad’s signature?
There are a few reasons as to why this Argentinian/Polish/Italian starlet is still very much a rough diamond.
Currently, he is more suited to Serie A than the Barclays Premier League as he’d struggle with the high physicality of the English game.
For his personal development, it’d be best for him to either stay at Palermo or join Juventus as that way he can fine-tune his game into one which would be more effective in England.
All the top hitmen in the Premier League are physical presences – Sergio Agüero, Alexis Sánchez, Wayne Rooney and Diego Costa are all extremely hard to push off the ball.
Paulo Dybala would struggle against the likes of John Terry, Vincent Kompany and Martin Škrtel at the moment, however Dybala is only 21 and he’s only going to get stronger and more street-wise with these centre-backs as time goes on.
While 13 goals and 10 assists isn’t the finished article, its fair to say that Paulo Dybala has such a bright future ahead of him.
The post Paulo Dybala – A future great? appeared first on Proven Quality.