Last January, Chelsea broke the Premier League transfer record to sign midfielder Enzo Fernandez from Benfica for a fee of around £107m (Sky Sports). Fernandez had only been playing in Europe for half a season, having just left River Plate in his homeland, but in December 2022, he’d become a world champion with Argentina.
Speaking last summer, Fernandez revealed that he’d be in touch with another member of Lionel Scaloni’s squad – forward Paulo Dybala – over the possibility of joining him at Stamford Bridge. And while no move materialised last summer, with Dybala staying put at Roma instead, it looks like it could be back on the agenda in this month’s transfer window.
Chelsea could bid before Dybala deadline
According to Italian outlet TuttoMercatoWeb, Chelsea are keen on signing Dybala in January (translated by Sport Witness). Mauricio Pochettino wants to strengthen his attack this month and has identified his fellow countryman as an ideal candidate.
As such, Dybala is prominent in Chelsea’s thoughts and they could make their interest concrete in the coming days. Significantly, the 30-year-old’s contract includes a release clause of €12m (£10.3m) for clubs outside Italy, but it’s only valid until January 15th.
Aware of the deadline, Chelsea plan to “lunge” for the forward in the coming days, with an “important week” ahead. Roma, for their part, will do their best to tie him down and ward off the interest from London. In effect, former Blues boss Jose Mourinho is trying to deny his old club the player they want.
How bad is Dybala’s injury record?
When assessing Dybala, the first note of caution is that his injury record is extensive. We’ve only just passed the halfway point of the 2023/24 season, but already he’s been sidelined by three separate problems, keeping him out for a combined ten games. This, regrettably, forms part of a long-running trend – since 2015, Dybala has racked up a whopping 106 absences (Transfermarkt).
On the fip side, when he is fit, his numbers have been excellent. Dybala joined Roma on a free transfer in 2022 after seven years at Juventus, and he’s been a big hit for Mourinho with 48 direct goal contributions (24 scored, 14 assisted) in his 55 appearances so far. This year, he’s netted six times and set-up six more in 17 appearances, maintaining his strong output (Transfermarkt).
There’s certainly no disputing his pedigree either. In addition to being a World Cup winner, Dybala has made the Serie A team of the year four times, won the competition’s MVP award in 2019/20 (Football Italia) and made the Europa League team of the season in 2022/23 after firing Roma to the final (UEFA). One of his predecessors in the Italian capital, Francesco Totti, has called him a “phenomenon” (Football Italia)
Chelsea have only scored 34 goals in their first 20 Premier League matches this season, an average of 1.7 per game. That puts them on course for between 64 and 65 at the end of the season, but things could improve if they add a proven goalscorer and creator to Pochettino’s frontline.
