Lionel Scaloni urges Paulo Dybala to get regular minutes to earn a World Cup place after snubbing the Juventus star and Tottenham transfer target for his latest Argentina squad.
La Albiceleste play qualifying fixtures for the Qatar tournament this month with meetings with Venezuela and Ecuador. But Scaloni opted against including Dybala among his options, having removed the 28-year-old from his pre-squad list after direct talks over his fitness.
Scaloni sought to speak with Dybala before finalising his plans for ties with Venezuela this Friday and Ecuador next Wednesday. The Bianconeri playmaker has struggled with injuries at times this term, with Dybala already so far sitting out 13 fixtures across all competitions.
Dybala has still managed to make 29 appearances and has provided Juventus 13 goals and six assists over his outings. His latest goal came in the Old Lady’s 2-0 win over Salernitana last Sunday. But the forward had missed their prior three Serie A games with a thigh issue.
Scaloni refuses to do Tottenham target Dybala ‘a favour’ after Argentina snub
Scaloni’s Argentina snub came as the latest rejection for Dybala after Juventus decided the €32m (£26.5m) arrival from Palermo in 2015 would not be getting a new contract and will leave for free at the end of the season, with Tottenham interested in securing his transfer.
That’s according to Corriere dello Sport, who cite Spurs and Barcelona as the favourites for his services. But TuttoMercatoWEB claim the north London outfit will struggle to afford his wage demands, which Sky Italia note are €10m-a-year (£160k-a/w) net, including bonuses.
A free transfer from Juventus to either Tottenham or Barcelona could return the minutes Scaloni wants Dybala to secure in order to merit a place in his Argentina World Cup plans.
“I talked to Dybala when we completed the preliminary list because he was catching up [in terms of fitness],” Scaloni said, via Gianluca Di Marzio. “He is not up for discussion. But we need him to show up at the training camp in optimal conditions when called up.
“We are not doing him a favour if we include him in the group and he is not in form. There is time for the World Cup, and we need him to be well.”
Dybala has only played three games for 76 minutes with Argentina since November 2019. He failed to feature in any of their 2020 fixtures, while left at home during the 2021 Copa America that La Albiceleste won. Scaloni has since given brief chances in-between injuries.
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