Juventus have turned down Manchester United’s offer of £70 million plus Mkhitaryan for their star-hitman Paulo Dybala.
Juventus have rejected Manchester United’s proposal for Paulo Dybala and are holding out for a higher fee, claims The Sun. United offered £70 million along with their attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan in exchange for the Argentine’s services.
The 24-year-old Argentinian International had a superb start to the season scoring double hat-tricks in just 4 games. However, a fall-out with Juventus manager Massimiliano Allegri has seen his name linked to some of the top European clubs.
Recently, Dybala was benched for a crucial clash against Inter Milan, which has all but confirmed not everything is going right at Juventus. Dybala has still managed an impressive 15 goals in 25 club appearances this season.
Real Madrid were said to be leading the race for some time with their BBC strike-force failing to find the back of net regularly this season. Florentino Perez wants a Galactico signing and Dybala is eyed as the leading target, with the likes of Benzema and Bale heading for the exit-door.
Juventus have rejected an offer of £70m plus Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Manchester United for Paulo Dybala. (Source: Sun Sport) pic.twitter.com/YAHZmBBlwz
— Transfer News Live (@DeadlineDayLive) December 29, 2017
However it’s the name of Red Devils that has propped up recently in the list of ever growing fan-base of ‘The Jewel’.
Manchester United are not new to the rumours and have long been admirers of the former Palermo man. 2015 saw Palermo president, Zamparini, confirming United’s interest in their man, who he dubbed as “the new Sergio Aguero”. However the diminutive striker would ultimately be snapped up by ‘The Old Lady’ in 2015.
The Red Devils haven’t given up and have offered Mkhitaryan as a deal sweetener to Juventus. But, Juve seemingly aren’t interested in bringing the Armenian to their books and are looking at an all-cash deal.
Mkhitaryan was signed by United for £27 million in summer of 2016 after he amassed 23 goals for Borussia Dortmund in Bundesliga. However, life has been far from easy for the Armenian as he netted just 11 times in the league in his debut season.
This EPL season has seen him steal the spotlight on just 2 occasions and coach Mourinho has even accused him of “disappearing” in big games. United want to sell the Armenian, who’s pocketing a cool £180,000-a-week at Old Trafford.
Meanwhile, the Bianconeri already have creativity at their disposal in form of Miralem Pjanic, signed from Roma in 2016, who has scored 4 times and assisted a further 6 in 22 club appearances this season. Also, the Armenian would turn 29 next month and will have little left in his tank.
United want to provide an alternate source of goals, with Lukaku leading from the front. Zlatan Ibrahimovic was given just a 1-year contract extension at beginning of the summer and it’s abundantly clear why. The Swede was the subject of a knee-injury that has kept him out for 7 months this calendar year and despite making a miraculous early return last month, he has been out of sorts and has scored just a solitary goal in 7 games this season.
Targeting a player who has played against some of the best defences of the world and scored goals for fun – makes complete sense for United.
Despite Dybala signing a contract extension in summer of 2017, which would tie him to the club until 2022, a fall-out with coach Allegri has seen him benched as of late and he could be looking for greener pastures with Madrid, United and Barcelona circling him.
No player has scored more goals from outside the box (5) in Europe’s top 5 Leagues this season than Paulo Dybala.
Deadly strike. ? pic.twitter.com/xRXJZyea1G
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) December 28, 2017
However it’s United that have started the bidding war by tabling a fee which Juventus have dismissed promptly. Juventus rate their talent highly and a fee in region of £100 million is being mooted for Juventus to let go their prized possession.
However Agent ‘P’ can be a motivating factor in United’s pursuit of the Argentinian. Dybala earlier lamented the transfer of his ‘friend’ Pogba to United in the summer and said both were “on very good terms on and off the pitch“. Meanwhile, Pogba was seen wishing Dybala on his birthday with a cheeky “Agent P” hashtag.
The Bianconeri striker has been compared to the likes of Messi – with his magnificient double against Barcelona in UCL 2016-17 reminding all of the abundant talent he possesses. At just 24 years of age, and having already tasted much glory, he would certainly be a worthy addition to any team in the world.
