After the first ten games of this season in the Serie A it looked hard to think that Juventus could push on and try and win their 5th league title in a row. Juventus were sitting in mid-table after the opening ten games of the season with only 12 points out of a possible 30 recorded. Ten games after that and Juventus have won all ten of these games and have put themselves only two points of Napoli at the top of the Serie A. The emergence of Napoli has taken the league by somewhat of a surprise, as they looked to be a club in transition after the sacking of Rafa Benitez. There was a lot of speculation after the players that Juventus lost during the summer that free-spending Inter Milan would take control of the Serie A this summer, however a lack of balance in the Inter Milan team at times this season has cost them that right. The Juventus revival has been admirable, influential players like Marchiso, Bonucci, Chiellini and Pogba rediscovered their form, however the influence and goals scored by Paulo Dybala has been the stand-out component of the Juventus revival.
Paulo Dybala was a player in-demand during the summer of 2015, and Palermo knew the time had come that they had to sell the Argentine but the right move was important. Despite the 32 million euro price tag Juventus paid to get the services of Dybala, the young striker has already shown why the club paid the fee they did for the player. In his opening campaign for the Turin club, he has scored 11 goals in 19 appearances and contributed 3 assists as well, we can expect to see many more of both. The fans favourite is only 22 years of age, but possess the mind and instincts of a veteran striker. Dybala can either lead the line or play off a striker which would be his best role in the attack, his movement across the box and the ability to make space and time for himself is one of the best in Europe right now and although right now he does not have the same pedigree as Carlos Tevez in front of goal, Dybala will no doubt improve in that aspect of the game. During the early months of the season Massimiliano Allegri the Juventus manager was rotating his strikers and midfielders to try and find the right fit, pairing Paulo Dybala and Mandzukic looks to be the right way forward for the club, despite having Alvaro Morata and Zaza fighting for a place in the starting eleven. The return of Sami Khedira has brought the balance to the midfield and much needed energy.
In Italy and especially regarding Juventus, the pressure on the shoulders of Dybala is huge for a young player, however he looks to take this in his stride. There is a fight within the player and although he can go down easily at times he does not pull away from a tackle and looks competitive all the time. Already with three caps to his name for Argentina the Juventus forward will no doubt have a lot more caps to his name and may be in the firing line during the next World Cup in 2018 alongside Lionel Messi. Juventus do look to be building a strong squad for a longer term rather than short term and with the arrival of Dybala, Alex Sandro and Khedira and Neto during the summer they are making strides towards this prospect. Importantly despite getting themselves back in the title race now the club need to focus on Europe where they made the Champions League final last season. This campaign has been inconsistent for the club in Europe but they do find themselves in the next round, so they need to build on their recent league form and take this into the Champions League.
Interest in Dybala will no doubt intensify if he can maintain and even improve his current form, however Juventus are in no rush or need to sell their star-man. Clubs around Europe will be kicking themselves at missing out on getting the player from Palermo during the summer as it looks a bargain price in today’s market in the game, with his valuation now doubling the fee Juventus paid for Argentinian forward. The Serie A title race is open and realistically looks a three horse race, Napoli, Juventus and Inter Milan. With the form of Juventus and with Dybala calling the shots it would be hard not to consider Juventus the favourites to bring the title back to the Old Lady.
