Football News

Paulo Dybala reveals he had no desire to leave Juventus amid Man Utd and Spurs links

By Harry Edwards

Published: 22:00, 8 October 2019

Juventus forward Paulo Dybala has revealed he had no desire to leave the club in the summer, despite being linked with moves to Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United.

Dybala has had a slow start to the new season under Maurizio Sarri, having to work for his place in the starting XI given the Bianconeri’s star-studded squad.

Did Dybala want Premier League move? Five things to know…

  • Paulo Dybala spent most of the summer transfer being linked with a move away from Juventus.
  • Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur were the two most-touted destinations.
  • According to reports, Dybala was set to join Spurs before Juventus pulled out of the deal.
  • Dybala has since revealed he had no desire to join Man Utd or Spurs, with the links not being nice.
  • The Argentinian scored his first goal of the season in Juventus’ 2-1 win over Inter Milan on Sunday.

But his influence has grown over the past few weeks with the Argentinian scoring the opening goal in Juventus’ 2-1 win over Inter Milan on Sunday.

Things could have been so different, with reports in the summer linking Dybala to both Tottenham and Manchester United. Dybala had looked close to joining Tottenham on the final day of the Premier League’s transfer window, but the potential move fell through after Juventus decided not to sell.

But Dybala has insisted he didn’t want to leave Juventus, admitting the links to Tottenham and Manchester United weren’t a “nice thing”.

“It wasn’t an easy summer,” he told Tuttosport.

“Hearing your name linked to every team and every place, where you don’t want to go, isn’t a nice thing.

“But this is football, even if before the transfer window opened I said: ‘I want to stay here.’

“I had already done an interview in which I said I wanted to stay in Turin, then I never spoke again: not even in the America’s Cup and on holidays.”

“I think it was more important to let the pitch do the talking, even if until the last day no-one knew what would happen. I wanted to stay, I wanted to play here and continue my career at Juve.”

Subscribe to Squawka’s Youtube channel here.

Dybala: It’s better to talk on the pitch

Dybala was not the only player whose future at Juventus was in doubt. Despite being a firm favourite of Maurizio Sarri, having played for the Italian at Napoli and Chelsea previously, Higuain’s form last season had fans doubting his capabilities of performing at the top level.

But Dybala believes both he and Higuain are starting to reap the rewards for their commitment to Juventus.

“I think I can still give a lot and I showed a glimpse of that against Inter,” he added.

“That’s exactly what I wanted. Both me and [Gonzalo] Higuain – that’s what we want.

“I believe that the two of us spoke little of everything that happened, but we wanted to stay at Juventus and … well, look – we both have scored goals at Inter. It’s better to talk on the pitch with facts.”

The win over Inter saw Juventus return to the top of the Serie A table, one point ahead of their rivals, as the only team still unbeaten in Italy’s top flight.