For a typical football club, the future of an increasingly injured, 32-year-old forward headed toward free agency wouldn’t cause much of a stir, but Roma is no ordinary club, and Paulo Dybala has never been an ordinary player. Since arriving in the capital four years ago, the man affectionately known as La Joya has delighted Giallorossi supporters with a level of attacking skill and grace not seen since the latter days of Francesco Totti’s legendary career.
In that light, it’s no wonder Dybala’s future
has weighed heavily on the club. Even in his reduced capacity as a 1,500-minute-per-season player, Dybala could deliver dizzying highs with his wicked left foot and keen intellect, scoring several golazos among his 45 goals for the club. However, with a string of muscle injuries dragging him down over the past 18 months, those moments of magic were fleeting. Dybala could still turn a match on its head, but they were interspersed with swaths of mortality.
With his contract expiring at the end of June and Roma facing another summer revolution, Dybala’s future with the club has come into question. While there have been suggestions that he could sign an incentive-laden deal to remain with the club, Dybala has been the subject of constant transfer rumors over the past several months.
And, according to ESPN, Dybala has reached a preliminary agreement with Boca Juniors.
It may sound strange to say, but when it comes to football rumors, ESPN, the self-proclaimed Worldwide Leader in Sports, isn’t the most reputable source of football journalism. Still, Dybala has been linked with Boca Juniors for several months, and with his former Roma teammate Leandro Paredes giving him the soft sell, not to mention Dybala and his wife recently welcoming a newborn daughter, the lure of returning home to Argentina may be too difficult to resist.
This story will surely shift in the coming weeks, but the Dybala to Boca train is picking up steam.
