Juventus will refuse to release Paolo Dybala for Argentina’s Olympic campaign due to a scheduling clash. The 22-year-old has enjoyed a brilliant Serie A season, but will miss out on both summer tournaments as Gerardo Martino has not picked the Juventus youngster for the Copa America either, leaving Dybala and Carlos Tevez out of the 23 man squad.
Speaking to Italian TV channel DirecTV after Juventus’ TIM Cup final victory over AC Milan, Dybala revealed his disappointment at the Copa America snub, saying “I did expect to be called up, because Juventus had already told me I couldn’t take part in the Olympics and so I hoped for the Copa America.”
Also Read: Tevez misses cut in Argentina's Copa America squad
Argentina have a wealth of attacking talent, with players like Messi, Higuain, Aguero, Lavezzi, Di Maria and Gaitan preferred to Dybala. The Juventus youngster understood Tata Martino's decision, saying “I have to respect the decisions of the Coach, as it is not easy to put together a squad with so many phenomenal strikers. I wanted to be in the United States.”
The Serie A season starts on the 20th of August, the same day that the Olympics ends. With Argentina considered a heavyweight, they expected to be in the finals, which meant that the Bianconeri were reluctant to let Dybala go, who expressed his gloom, saying “It’s disappointing, but Juventus won’t give me permission to go to Rio.”
Dybala wants Juventus to target European success
The 22-year-old has enjoyed a fantastic first season with Juventus, repaying the €40 million fee that Juventus paid for his services from Palermo. Together with Juventus stars Paul Pogba and Mario Mandzukic, the trio have been involved with 62 goals for Juventus this season, with Dybala scoring 23 goals in 46 appearances for the Old Lady this season.
Also Read: Top 10 trios in Europe's top 5 leagues with most goal involvement in the 2015/16 season
After wrapping up the Serie A title, Juventus defeated AC Milan in the final of the Italian Cup with a narrow 1-0 victory , with Alvaro Morata coming off the bench to score the winner in extra time.
Dybala revealed his pleasure with the victory, but opined that the Bianconeri need to focus on Europe, saying “We knew that we’d be facing a tough Milan side, but we were able to rebuff their attacks and at the end held out better physically. I am happy to have won everything there was to win in Italy, but now Juventus have to target Europe. I will try to improve myself on an international level too.”
