Marotta: ‘Dybala at Juventus long term’

By Football Italia staff

Giuseppe Marotta insists Juventus and Paulo Dybala will have “a long journey together” and calls release clauses “madness’.

The forward signed a new contract with the Bianconeri in April, and the club’s general manager doesn’t expect him to leave any time soon.

“How do we choose a Juventus player?” Marotta considered in an interview with Tuttosport.

“Two levels: we take someone who is already an established champion: look at Dani Alves, [Mario] Mandzukic, [Sami] Khedira, [Gonzalo] Higuain and so on.

“Or, we look for talent. But, listen, a talent who can become a champion. That means someone who has not only the technical qualities but also the human values to turn into a champion, as happened with Dybala for example.

“We have a Del Piero project for him, in his new contract we’ve taken into account the value of the player, which goes hand-in-hand with enhancing the brand of the club.

“There’s common ground and the intention to have a long journey together.

“A release clause? It’s madness, I’ll never put one on a player. It’s not an advantage, it puts you in a weak position.

“If I’d put a clause on [Paul] Pogba we’d have said €60m was good, then we sold him for €110m.

“Gonzalo Higuain? I still don’t know if [Napoli President Aurelio] De Laurentiis would have rejected €90m…”

Marotta also discussed this summer’s transfer campaign, as well as the best signings of his reign so far.

“Last summer was perhaps one of the best transfer campaigns in our history. I don’t want the expectation of something like that to happen now. We definitely want to strengthen the team though.

“We want to strengthen the team and some tactical changes mean we need some adjustments, even if we have a strong squad. We won’t sell our champions though.

“There’s something missing in attack, even considering [Marko] Pjaca’s injury. As for midfield and defence, we’ll see.

“We’re following the market, but it’s not easy to find players who will improve the team.

“Will we sell our top players? No, absolutely not. If there’s someone who wants to leave then it’s another matter, but right now I can’t see that. No-one wants to leave and we’re not trying to make quick profits.

“My best signing? Andrea Pirlo. At the time most people thought he was a finished player.”

The director was also asked about the future of 17-year-old Moise Kean, who made his first team debut this season.

“I hope he’s not a victim of his contract, because the regulations don’t allow us to tie him down until an age where he’s deemed able to understand it [18],” Marotta said.

“So we have to negotiate his stay with his agent, Mino Raiola. And it’s not possible for us to go beyond certain financial parameters on his salary, not least for ethical and moral reasons.

“I actually really like Mino, you’d have to know him. He’s someone who can argue, fight even, but he only has one word.

“I’d rather have that 1000 times than some of his colleagues who are more ambiguous.”

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