Paulo Dybala transfer to Spurs or Man Utd: Seven things you didn’t know about Argentina star, including his love of Gladiator and writing with his right foot
Juventus forward also has more than 300 shirts from rival players in his collection
AS Spurs and Man Utd fans will doubtless tell you, Paulo Dybala has got the lot - pace, guile, energy and an eye for goal.
Since he moved to Juventus in a £35million deal from Palermo in 2015, the Argentinian international has been scoring at a rate of a goal a game.
It’s those prolific performances that have helped him win back-back-to-back league and cup doubles in Italy.
And made him the natural successor to the likes of Sergio Aguero and Lionel Messi once those two legends call it a day on the international stage.
But more of that later…
He’s got a couple of nicknames…
Dybala’s nickname is Joya. It’s Spanish for ‘joy’.
But his former Juve team-mate Paul Pogba has another one for him.
“I call Dybala 'Square R2',” he says.
“That’s the combination you press on PlayStation to do a turn and shot. He always scores like that.”
He could have played for Poland or Italy…
Thanks to his grandfather, a Pole who fled his homeland during World War II before settling in Argentina, Dybala could have elected to play for Poland.
He could have played for Italy too. In fact, when Antonio Conte was manager of the Italian national side, meanwhile, he attempted to persuade Dybala to play for the Azzurri.
Dybala was eligible to play for Italy via his maternal grandmother but opted to play for Argentina instead.
“I was asked to play for Italy when I was 19. It was a huge honour but I had to decline the offer because I’m Argentinian it would have been like cheating to me,” he said.
Make your own jokes about Argentinians and cheating.
He dedicates all of his goals to his late father…
Dybala’s father, Adolfo, died from intestinal cancer in 2008 when Paulo was just 15 years-old.
His club at the time, Instituto in Cordoba, gave him six months off to grieve. But it wasn’t enough.
“His death was an incredible pain for me,” he said.
“In the months leading up to his death, he could no longer come and see me… so the team let me go back home for a while to stay with him.
“But six months were not enough for me and I almost quit football. I always think about him and dedicate all my goals to him.”
Talking of goals…
You may have seen Dybala placing his thumb and forefinger across his face whenever he scores a goal for Juventus.
But what is it?
It’s the ‘Dybalamask’, that’s what.
“It’s the mask of a gladiator,” he said recently. “When we struggle, sometimes we must wear our warrior mask to be stronger, without losing our smile and kindness!
"The mast comes from Gladiator, a film I must have seen 30 times. In life you have to get up and fight."
He’s got a beef with Alvaro Morata…
When he was making his name at Instituto and then at Palermo, Dybala insisted on wearing the No 9 shirt.
But when he joined Juventus he found the number already taken by Alvaro Morata.
But he then had a lightbulb moment.
As Juve idol Andrea Pirlo had just left the club that meant the number 21 shirt was available so Dybala snapped it up, even though Pirlo’s were mightily big boots to fill.
“It was a test because I wanted to test myself against the weight of a number that represents so many thins here.”
He’s a bit of a hoarder…
Dybala has over 300 shirts of players he’s played against, stored in both Italy and back home in Argentina.
But while he’s got some heavywweight names in his collection, including Lionel Messi’s, he’s still missing the one he covets most, that of his childhood idol, Ronaldinho.
“The one player’s shirt that I would still love to have is Ronaldinho’s. One day Gennaro Gattuso promised me that he was going to call him to ask him for a shirt for me, because he’d played with him, but it didn’t happen,” he said.
Best not have a go at Gattuso about it though, eh?
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He has an amazing routine to improve his weaker foot
Dybala has a great left foot, we can all agree on that.
And he's working on improving his weaker right too.. and has taken it to extremes.
He told Italian publication Il Venerdi: "I'm left-handed, I even brush my teeth with my left hand.
"So I taken a pen every day and I try to write, but with my right foot.
"I put the pent between my big toe and the little one. I work like a crazy person to have more sensitivity and ability.
"Not just that, I also train with my eyes - to see further, in different directions, to anticipate my opponents and see trajectories."
I guess that means it's now his write foot.