Argentine footballer, Paulo Dybala,confirmed on Thursday that he will stay with AS Roma, putting an end to months of rumors about a high-profile transfer to Saudi Pro League side Al Qadsiah.
Sources reveal that Dybala declined a substantial offer of €75 million ($83M) spread over three years from the Saudi club.
“Thank you Rome…See you on Sunday,” he said in an Instagram post.
Paulo Dybala’s recent choice comes at a time of considerable speculation regarding his future.
On Thursday, he trained away from Roma’s first team and was notably missing from the starting lineup during their Serie A opener against Cagliari last Sunday.
Dybala is in the final year of his contract with Roma, which includes an automatic extension clause if he participates in at least 15 official games this season.
His contract includes a base salary of €7.5 million, with an additional €2 million in performance-related bonuses.
Since transferring from Juventus to Roma in 2022, Dybala has become a pivotal player, amassing 34 goals and 18 assists in 78 matches.
Last week, Roma supporters made their discontent known through protests outside the club’s training facility, urging management to retain the star player.
Dybala’s decision to remain with Roma sparked celebrations among fans, who gathered outside his residence on Thursday night to express their excitement.
Al Qadsiah, a newly promoted Saudi Arabian team with notable players like former Real Madrid defender Nacho Fernandez and ex-Arsenal striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, had made several efforts to acquire Dybala throughout the summer transfer period.
Dybala’s decision to stay was met with enthusiasm from his Roma and Argentina teammate Leandro Paredes. “For those who haven’t understood it, he remains with us,” he posted.
Chelsea’s centre-back Thiago Silva has revealed that he has had conversations with Paulo Dybala about a potential move to the Blues this summer.
Dybala, who has been heavily linked with a transfer to Stamford Bridge, is reportedly a target for Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino as he looks to strengthen his team’s attacking options.
According to reports from Football London, Chelsea has already reinforced their forward line with the signings of Christopher Nkunku and Nicolas Jackson.
However, the addition of Dybala could further enhance their squad.
The Argentine forward had an impressive season with Roma, contributing to 19 goals in his debut campaign under the guidance of coach Jose Mourinho.
Silva’s discussions with Dybala suggest that Chelsea is actively pursuing the player and exploring the possibility of bringing him to the club to bolster their attacking firepower.
Silva wants Dybala at Chelsea
Silva has further fueled speculation that Dybala is a wanted man at Stamford Bridge after revealing he has spoken with the Argentine over a possible move.
Metro UK reports that Dybala is currently in England on holiday and has been taking in some huge sporting events.
The Argentina international has since linked up with Silva, with the Brazilian defender expressing his desire to play with the forward at Chelsea.
“I saw Paulo Dybala here, they [the media] talk about him coming to Chelsea,” Silva told Sky Sport Italia, via Metro UK.
“I’ve talked with him and asked him if he is coming. He is a world-class player,” he added.
Mourinho on Dybala joining Chelsea
Earlier, Sports Brief reported that AS Roma boss, Jose Mourinho has broken his silence on reports that Chelsea are looking to sign Paulo Dybala this summer.
Dybala has spent just one season with Roma, having joined them in the summer of 2022 from Serie A rivals Juventus.
Reports claim the Blues are leading the race to sign the Argentine forward in the coming weeks.
Sevilla won their seventh UEFA Europa League title on Wednesday night in Budapest after defeatingAS Roma in the championship match.
Paulo Dybala scored first, but Gianluca Mancini’s own goal negated it, forcing the three-hour gritty contest into the dreaded penalty shootout.
After a difficult season, Sports Brief looks at the five lessons learned from Sevilla’s defining moment.
Sevilla remain unscathed in UEL
The Andalusian club is to the Europa League what Real Madrid is to the UEFA Champions League. This was their seventh triumph in their seventh final in Europe’s second-tier club competition.
After going down in the first half via a perfectly struck Paulo Dybala goal, Sevilla clawed back into the game after recess and never looked back until the final spot kick was converted by Gonzalo Montiel, the man who scored Argentina’s World Cup final-winning penalty.
At this juncture, it is safe to say that the La Liga club are the landlords of this competition, and have every right under the sun to feel entitled to winning the trophy anytime they make the final.
Mourinho loses impeccable final record
Jose Mourinho had to surrender his perfect record in European finals to Sevilla in Budapest when his Roma side lost on penalties. The defeat was Mourinho’s first-ever defeat in the grand finale of a European competition.
After inspiring the Giallorossi to Conference League success, the club’s maiden European trophy, the former Real Madrid and Chelsea boss was seeking to become the first manager to win the Europa League with three different clubs, but Sevilla had other ideas.
The defeat means Mourinho’s gamble of putting all his eggs in one basket failed this time. There will be no European nights in the Eternal City for Mourinho and his charges next season- that is, if he still remains at Roma.
Mendilibar’s tactical masterstroke
José Luis Mendilibar, only in the Sevilla job for three months and on a mission to rescue a team threatened by relegation, was coaching his 965th game, but only his fifth in Europe. The experienced gaffer weaved his tactical magic to inspire a comeback which was completed by their penalty shoot-out success.
But before then, his raft of changes in the second half proved to be a masterstroke. Sevilla’s blunt attack in the first half was replaced with unerring precision with the introduction of Lamela and Suso, which resulted in the equalizer.
The 62-year-old became the fourth manager to win this trophy with Sevilla, per the Guardian.
Controversy rocks final
A gruelling night of European action continued for three hours and past midnight to determine the winner between Sevilla and AS Roma.
Like almost every other final, the game was rocked with controversy. First, referee Anthony Taylor had to overrule his initial penalty call in the 75th minute after a VAR review.
The Englishman then became an ‘enemy’ to the Romanistas, who felt they deserved a penalty of their own after a cross struck a Sevilla defender’s hand.
As if that was not enough, Gonzalo Montiel’s initial missed penalty was retaken, much to the chagrin of Mourinho and his charges, who levelled expletives at the referee and his officials after his side lost.
Mourinho throws medal away
Jose Mourinho has been accused of having a ‘sour loser’ attitude, and this was epitomized by his moment of ‘madness’ when he rushed ahead of his players to take his silver medal, before throwing it into the crowd.
To be fair, the Portuguese tactician had invested his all in the final and was banking on his proven track record in such games.
Mourinho throws away medal
It was therefore understandable how and why Mourinho vented in such a manner.
The medal was caught by a lucky young fan in the stands. This is not the first time the ‘Special One’ has pulled such a stunt.
He also threw his Premier League winners’ medal into the stands after guiding Chelsea to their first English top-flight success after five decades.
The Giallorossi overcame Feyenoord 4-2 on aggregate at Stadio Olimpico, securing a meeting with Bayer Leverkusen in the semifinals.
Roma was on the verge of elimination after Igor Paixao’s header negated Leonardo Spinazzola’s earlier goal as they trailed 1-0 from the first leg.
But Dybala, who was introduced as a substitute after missing Sunday’s victory over Udinese through injury, levelled the tie with a sharp turn and finish forcing extra time, in which further strikes from Stephan El Shaarawy and Lorenzo Pellegrini sealed the deal.
It was the former Juventus forward’s 16th goal of the season and fourth in the Europa League – a tally only bettered by Marcus Rashford, Victor Boniface (both six) and Santiago Gimenez (five) – and his exploits drew praise from his head coach.
“My feeling is that he was seeking the joy, he had lost more than confidence,” Mourinho told Sky Sport Italia.
“He found it here. He has found a coach who understands him, a crowd that loves him and a space on the field in which to be a leader with his quality and personality.
“I gave him absolute freedom to come on tonight, and he could come off even two minutes later if he didn’t feel up to it.
But he played 30 minutes of extra time and 25 minutes regular, and he finished on a high.”
Meanwhile, Dybala also paid tribute to Mourinho who, having guided Roma to the Europa Conference League title last season, is closing in on a sixth triumph in European competition.
“I think everyone knows Mourinho, his history, what he’s done in Europe and at every club he worked at, I think he won something,” the forward added.
“His mentality fuels you. He knew the game could end up like this and pushed us to give something more.
He changed the tactical system, we started playing better and dominated extra time for a deserved victory.
“I think we all want to win, which is the most important thing. We have a coach with an incredible mentality. He told us the game would be like that, and he was absolutely right.
“This squad won the Europa Conference League last season, so they know what it takes to win. Now, we hope to go all the way in the Europa League too.”
Following Saturday’s vital 1-0 victory for his Roma team at Torino, Jose Mourinho could not help but take a shot at Serie A rivals Juventus.
When Milan and Inter drew on Friday, Paulo Dybala’s eighth-minute penalty gave the Giallorossi all the points they needed to move into third place.
Juve’s 2-1 loss at Lazio left the Bianconeri with 44 points, nine fewer than Mourinho’s team, but the former Chelsea and Real Madrid manager is not sure that will still be the case.
The appeal Juve lodged against their 15-point penalty for transfer fee irregularities will be heard on April 19, meaning the top-four picture could eventually look very different.
Speaking after the win in Turin, Mourinho did not care about the quality of the performance, just the three points, before referencing Juve’s situation.
“Matches are won when you score one more goal than your opponent,” he told DAZN. “This is the goal not only in football but in sport: you have to win by trying to exploit your qualities and try to hide the problems.
“We are third in the standings? Are we sure that Juve don’t have 59 points? We are in Italy.”
Since 2004-05, Dybala (11 goals, six assists) is only the second player to score more than 10 goals and record more than five assists in a debut season for Roma in Serie A, after Mohamed Salah in 2015-16.
Roma have nine league games remaining as well as their upcoming Europa League quarter-final against Feyenoord, and Mourinho is hopeful of success on both fronts despite what he sees as squad limitations.
“The opponent that worries me the most in the Champions League fight? Ourselves, the fact that we want to think like a great team but we have a squad with limits,” he said.
“We have three games a week and it’s hard for us, but I’m not capable of thinking small. We go ahead from game to game.
“I’m not able to say that Udinese is less important than Feyenoord – let’s think game by game. Today we didn’t score a second goal, otherwise the game would have been completely different.”
After two league defeats to Sassuolo and a derby defeat to Lazio, AS Roma under Jose Mourinho’sleadership defeated Sampdoria 3-0 at the weekend.
The Italian capital club’s victory brought them closer to the top four thanks to goals from Stephan El Shaarawy, Paulo Dybala, and Georgino Wijnaldum.
There was an ugly incident during the game. The visiting team went down to 10 men after Colombian midfielder Jeison Murillo was shown a red card, and head coach Dejan Stankovic reacted furiously.
Racist chants from Roma fans met his reaction.
According to Football Italia, Mourinho gestured to the fans to stop the chants and spoke on the incident in defence of his former player after the game.
Roma fined for racist chant
Jose Mourinho’s intervention during the game was well acknowledged by an Italian sporting judge, who decided on the incident and was lenient on the club.
“Roma have been fined €8,000 following insulting chants towards the opposing coach by the entirety of supporters in Curva Sud.
The sanction is mitigated because chants were not repeated after the active intervention of their coach,” the judge said in a statement via Tutto Mercato.
Speaking after the game, the Special One expressed disappointment at the fans. He claimed to have grown a thick skin against such behaviours andurged Stankovic to do the same.
The Serbian thanked his former boss and claimed not to have paid attention, and further expressed pride in his gypsy roots.
Lukaku sent off for celebration
In another development, there was an incident of racism in Italian football last night in the Coppa Italia game between Juventus and Inter Milan.
Chelsea striker Romelu Lukaku endured a difficult evening from the Old Lady fans before he scored from the spot in the closing stages to finish the game levels.
Sports Brief reported that Lukaku was sent off for excessive celebration after doing shush to the fans who had abused him throughout the game, much to the disappointment of many football viewers.
Paulo Dybalahas overcome injury to take his place in the Argentina squad for the 2022 World Cup.
The Roma forward has not played since the Giallorossi’s win against Lecce on October 9 after suffering a thigh problem, though reports had suggested he was close to a return.
That appears to be the case as Argentinahead coach Lionel Scaloni has named Dybala in his 26-man squad for Qatar, a list headlined by Lionel Messi in what is expected to be his final World Cup.
The 35-year-old has rediscovered his form at Paris Saint-Germain, scoring 12 goals in 18 games this season, and he will be joined in attack by the only Albiceleste player to equal him for goals in qualifying (seven), Lautaro Martinez, as well as Dybala, Angel Di Maria, Joaquin Correa, Julian Alvarez and Nicolas Gonzalez.
Like Dybala, Tottenham centre-back Cristian Romero has recovered from injury in time to make it, with Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez also on the plane.
However, Villarreal midfielder Giovani Los Celso has failed to make the cut after recently sustaining a hamstring injury.
Impressive 21-year-old midfielder Enzo Fernandez earns his place in the squad after a good start to life at Benfica, while Brighton and Hove Albion’s Alexis Mac Allister has also been rewarded for his form in the Premier League.
The two-time World Cup winners begin their campaign on November 22 against Saudi Arabia, before facing Mexico and Poland in their other Group C games.
Argentina squad:
Franco Armani (River Plate), Emiliano Martinez (Aston Villa), Geronimo Rulli (Villarreal); Marcos Acuna (Sevilla), Juan Foyth (Villarreal), Lisandro Martinez (Manchester United), Nahuel Molina (Atletico Madrid), Gonzalo Montiel (Sevilla), Nicolas Otamendi (Benfica), German Pezzella (Real Betis), Cristian Romero (Tottenham), Nicolas Tagliafico (Lyon); Rodrigo De Paul (Atletico Madrid), Enzo Fernandez (Benfica), Alejandro Gomez (Sevilla), Alexis Mac Allister (Brighton and Hove Albion), Exequiel Palacios (Bayer Leverkusen), Leandro Paredes (Juventus), Guido Rodriguez (Real Betis); Julian Alvarez (Manchester City), Joaquin Correa (Inter), Angel Di Maria (Juventus), Paulo Dybala (Roma), Nicolas Gonzalez (Fiorentina), Lautaro Martinez (Inter), Lionel Messi (Paris Saint-Germain).
Jose Mourinhobemoaned Paulo Dybala’s absence after Roma slipped to a 1-0 derby defeat against Lazio, but revealed his hope the Argentina international will return before the World Cup.
Felipe Anderson capitalised on an error from Roger Ibanez as Maurizio Sarri’s team clinched a crucial win over their arch rivals on Sunday, moving to third in the Serie A table.
While Lazio were without influential duo Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Ciro Immobile at the Stadio Olimpico, Roma only managed two shots on target as they toiled in the absence of Dybala – their top goalscorer with five league goals this season.
“We talked about Milinkovic-Savic and Immobile, we didn’t talk about Dybala,” Mourinho said at a post-match news conference.
“I think he is more important, because he’s the one that assists us with goals. When certain players are missing, we go into difficulty.”
Dybala has been absent since October 9 after sustaining a hamstring injury, but Mourinho hopes he will return against Torino next Sunday, in what would also be a boost for Argentina ahead of their trip to Qatar.
“Obviously he wants to go to the World Cup, it is difficult to say no to that,” Mourinho told DAZN. “If there is a good evolution of his injury, we hope to have him back on Sunday against Torino.”
3 – #Lazio have won 3 Serie A derbies against Roma in a row played in the first half of the season for the second time, after 1949/50, 1950/51 and 1952/53. Eagle.#RomaLazio#SerieApic.twitter.com/Iu0iXDguVx
Roma have suffered narrow defeats to several of Serie A’s leading lights recently, but Mourinho believes they have not always got what they deserved.
Asked about the Giallorossi’s poor record against top opponents, Mourinho added: “Roma lost those games, in my opinion, undeservedly.
“Atalanta made one shot on goal and won 1-0, Napoli had difficulties like never before and won with a great goal from [Victor] Osimhen, and Lazio won with a half-goal.
“I think the game they played was the consequence of being 1-0 up, in a low block, compact. In our cultures, it is said that this was a cynical, intelligent game. In England, people would go home after 20 minutes.
“The playing time was definitely very low, the intensity and continuity of the game was very low. We dominated, but there was a lack of creativity.”
28-year-old Paulo Dybala joined AS Roma as a free agent after leaving giants Juventus and will be the new face of Jose Mourinho’s team for the next two seasons.
Felix Afena-Gyan has welcomed Paulo Dybala to the Giallorossi as he looks forward to partnering with the Argentine in the upcoming 2022/2023 Serie A season.
“I’m still young, I still have many years of career ahead, I still have a lot to learn, especially from the coach. it’s not a problem for me, I’m sure my time will come and I’ll have to take the opportunity.”
“Mourinho? For me, he’s like a father and parents have to be obeyed. Dybala? Surely it’s a great pleasure for me to share the locker room with a big player like Dybala, it’s a pleasure to be able to talk to him and train with himâ€.
Paulo Dybala won five Serie A titles and four Coppa Italia Cups during his seven-year stay with Juventus.
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Juventus and Argentina striker Paulo Dybala has tested positive for coronavirus.
The 26-year-old forward is currently asymptomatic and is self-isolating at home.
Dybala announced on Twitter that he and his partner Oriana Sabatini had both tested positive. He is the third Juve player affected after defender Daniele Rugani and midfielder Blaise Matuidi.
Dybala wrote: “Hi everyone, I just wanted just to inform you that we have received the results for the Covid-19 test and both Oriana and I have tested positive.
“Luckily we are in perfect conditions. Thanks for your messages.”
A Juventus statement read: “Paulo Dybala has undergone medical tests that revealed a positive result for Coronavirus-COVID19.
“He has been in voluntary home isolation since Wednesday 11 March.
“He will continue to be monitored, following the usual regime. He is well and is asymptomatic.”
