Napoli tried to sign Dybala, reveals Palermo president

Palermo president Maurizio Zamparini has revealed Napoli tried to sign Paulo Dybala before he joined Juventus in the summer.

Dybala, 22, is currently one of the most in form players in Serie A and has largely been responsible for Juventus’ remarkable upturn in form that has put them to within two points of league leaders Napoli.

However, the Argentine forward could have been forging a deadly partnership with Gonzalo Higuain at the San Paolo this season had Napoli succeeded in their pursuit of the youngster.

"[Gonzalo Higuain] and Dybala are very good but different,” the Palermo chief told Radio Kiss Kiss Napoli. “Gonzalo is the best striker in the world, Paulo is the new [Lionel] Messi.

“Why didn’t I give Dybala to my friend Aurelio De Laurentiis? He offered a big fee, plus a midfielder who is much stronger now: Jorginho.

“He [Jorginho] didn’t want to play with [Rafa] Benitez, now he’s reborn under [Maurizio] Sarri. De Laurentiis offered me €25m (£19m) plus Jorginho, and who could stop them with Higuain and Dybala? The player’s agents had already reached an agreement with Juventus though."

Dybala, who joined Juventus in a €40m (£30.4m) deal, took his time to win over a regular starting spot in Max Allegri’s starting XI, but is now an indispensable cog for the Old Lady. In fact, only Higuain (7.89) has garnered a higher WhoScored rating than Dybala (7.67) in Serie A this season.

For more stats on Paulo Dybala, click here to visit his WhoScored player page