Ten months ago, reports emerged suggesting that Paulo Dybala had been offered to Premier League giants Liverpool with contract talks hitting an impasse (90Min).
But while it would be wrong to call Dybala ‘yesterday’s man’ – he’s only 27 after all and is in the midst of a renaissance following Max Allegri’s return to the Allianz Stadium – he is no longer Juventus’s poster boy, overtaken and overshadowed by a younger, faster and more exciting talent.
Dybala scored twice and set up another as Juve put their domestic struggles to one side with a 4-2 triumph over Zenit St Petersburg in the Champions League group-stages.
It was his jet-heeled teammate who really captured the imagination, however, with Federico Chiesa – Juve’s go-to man for the big occasions – answering the Bat Signal once again and meting out his own particular brand of brutal footballing justice.
Is Federico Chiesa really an option for Liverpool?
“I have heard talk about him winning the Ballon d’Or in three or four years – I agree (he can win it),” Juventus legend Alessio Tacchinardi told Tuttosport in August.
“I see the same (skills) Pavel Nedved had. (Chiesa) has enormous qualities. He dribbles left and right and can shoot with very little space.”
Those ‘enormous qualities’ were in evidence once again on Tuesday night.
Chiesa won a penalty early in the second half, bamboozling the Zenit defence, before scoring his third goal of the season with the sort of slaloming solo effort that is rapidly becoming his MO.
According to La Repubblica, Liverpool were willing to smash their transfer record for Chiesa following Italy’s Euro 2020 triumph this summer.
Juventus, per Calciomercato, responded by slapping a £102 million price-tag on the former Fiorentina talisman’s head. And another sparkling showing on the biggest of stages will only serve to increase that already inflated valuation.
That has not stopped Liverpool fans dreaming of seeing Chiesa join forces with Mo Salah and Sadio Mane at Anfield. But you’d have more joy trying to take Dybala away from Juventus these days.
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