Paulo Dybala is exactly the sort of striker Arsenal need to target in the summer

Paulo Dybala

Juventus rebel Paulo Dybala is exactly the sort of striker Arsenal need to try to bring to the Premier League in the summer transfer window


By Adam Le Roux

Another day, another Arsenal transfer rumour ahead of the summer, and this time it’s Paulo Dybala.

The Juventus rebel is said to be free to leave the club in the summer, having fallen out of favour in Turin, and could be available for a bargain price ahead of the new campaign.

Having burst on the scene for the Old Lady in 2015, the 27-year-old has fallen by the wayside in recent years, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Alvaro Morata seemingly preferred up top by boss Andrea Pirlo.

But with the Argentinian said to be available for 40m Euros in the coming months, is he worth the gamble as he tries to reignite his career?

Paulo could be pivotal

There’s no hiding the fact that on his day Paulo Dybala is one of the best strikers in Europe, it just seems that his days are coming few and far between at the moment.

From plundering 23 goals in his first season for the club, the striker has only netted three times this campaign from his 16 appearances - although six of those have been from the substitutes’ bench.

Paulo Dybala

But given the opportunity to shine, there is no doubt that the 27-year-old still has the potential to be one of the deadliest strikers in the game as long as he is given the service to do so.

We all know that playing alongside Ronaldo can be a thankless task at times, with the Portuguese playmaker guilty of overplaying and stealing the limelight, which must be infuriating for any striker partnered with him.

Therefore, a move to pastures new could well work into both Dybala’s and Arsenal’s hands, with the pocket rocket in desperate need of rediscovering the sort of form that had him linked with all manner of European giants just a few summers ago.

The thought of him linking up with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Martin Odegaard is really something to whet the appetite, and with Alexandre Lacazette looking more and more likely to head out the exit door in the off-season, another deadly striker is going to be top of Arteta’s shopping list.

Dybala the devil

One thing that seems to crop up time and time again with discussions about Dybala though is his attitude, with the Argentinian said to be a tough character to handle in the dressing room on occasion.

The latest such incident saw him attend a party with teammates Weston McKennie and Arthur Melo in breach of COVID-19 protocols, which could see him suspended from the club until further notice.

Paulo Dybala

The club were said to be furious with the striker’s antics, and he is more than likely set to miss this weekend’s Turin derby and face a prolonged period of time away from the club.

With that in mind, it could play into the Gunners’ hands, with both parties more than likely wanting to seal an exit from Juventus in the summer his price tag could plummet thanks to his misdemeanour.

The one issue this could spring if he was to make the move to the Emirates in the summer would be his relationship with Arteta, with the Spaniard not the sort of character to suffer fools gladly.

We have already seen with the likes of Mesut Ozil and Matteo Guendouzi how quickly players can be turfed out of the club if they don’t fit in with the bosses’ ethos, so he will have to be on his best behaviour if he makes the move to the capital.

Is he going to have injury issues?

Dybala’s plight of tying down a regular starting spot in Andrea Pirlo’s plans haven’t been made any easier by his habit of picking up injuries of late, with a thigh injury hampering him earlier in the season, as well as a medial ligament injury at the turn of the year.

Throw his month and a half long spell with COVID-19 in the mix, and you can see just why he has been struggling for game time in Turin, as his stop-start career with the Italian giants continues.

Paulo Dybala

Given a summer to recover and get back to his best, Dybala is more than capable of putting a string of games together to help him rediscover the form of yesteryear - you don’t become a bad player overnight.

The thought of the Argentinian turning out in red and white is one that gets better the more and more you think about it - initially you think of his recent record for Juve, but when you start to think of what he used to be and how Arsenal could perform when he’s back to his best, you start to wish he was on the next plane to Heathrow.

Top quality international strikers are hard to come by or a club of Arsenal’s stature in the current climate, and the ones that are going to be linked are always going to have flaws in some way.

What Arteta needs to master is the art of polishing the rough diamonds - a category Dybala most definitely fits in - and if he manages to get him back to his best the Gunners could have a real player on their hands.

Photo Credit: Getty Images


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