2) Paulo Dybala – Juventus
After signing Paulo Dybala from Palermo for around €32 million last season, the then-20-year-old had a stellar start to the season even though Juventus struggled. Signed as a replacement for his compatriot Carlos Tevez, Dybala soon became an integral part of the Bianconeri attack as Juventus slowly crawled their way back to the top of the table.
By the end of the Serie A season, Juventus had overhauled Napoli and won the league comfortably. And Dybala had scored 19 goals and grabbed 9 assists in 29 starts. A star was born and Juventus had signed a quality player for the future who helped them win a fifth consecutive league title.
However, in a bid to strengthen the squad and challenge on the European front, they broke the Italian transfer record to sign Gonzalo Higuain from rivals Napoli. That has now had an adverse effect on his international teammate.
So far, Dybala has not yet scored a goal and has only 2 assists to his name. The Turin giants are currently top of the league but Dybala is no longer an unknown quantity in Massimiliano Allegri’s setup.
“He is having good games but has more attention from opponents - they know him now.” – Allegri
With Higuain in the XI, he is the focal point of the attack and Dybala usually drops deep to collect the ball. There have been ideas to deploy him in a withdrawn role behind Higuain and Mario Mandzukic but that would completely alter his role and Allegri would have to sacrifice a midfielder.
