At present, Roma are 17 points behind Serie A leaders, Inter, and in a distant seventh place – unlikely to please manager, Jose Mourinho, who has recently been linked with the Brazil national team post after Carlo Ancelotti, a previous favourite, signed a new deal at Real Madrid.
The Special One has overseen a mediocre season by his standards, and even Romelu Lukaku’s goals haven’t pushed the Giallorossi on to the degree expected.
For a man who clearly takes pride in being amongst the best in the business, the realisation that he can’t, or isn’t, taking the club to the next level might see him consider his options.
However, there’s nothing to report as far as Brazil is concerned as yet.
“No one called Mourinho from Brazil, this is true,” Fabrizio Romano said in his exclusive Daily Briefing for CaughtOffside.
“Mourinho’s only focus is on the AS Roma job now. He wants to win a title there. Then in the summer we will see.
Roma director Tiago Pinto leaves the club on February 1 so… Mourinho doesn’t even know the project yet, therefore it’s impossible to decide on his future now.”
Paulo Dybala also only seems focused on the job in hand at Roma, but his insanely cheap release clause opens up the possibility of him moving on.
“I receive many questions every single transfer window on Paulo Dybala and today it’s time to clarify all the details. So from what I’m told guys, yes, Dybala has a release clause and it’s already active up until the 15th of January, then it’s over. Dybala will be going nowhere,” Romano continued.
“How much is the clause? Just €12m. Incredible. It will also be valid in the summer transfer window from the first of July to the end of July. So, not in August, not in June, only the month of July. This is the point.
“Dybala always said, especially in the summer, that he only wanted to stay at Roma, that he was focused on Roma and that he’s always showing his love for Roma, the club the city, the team obviously his team-mates, the manager…”
Any interested parties will need to move quickly if they want to secure the Argentinian international in the current window, however.
“There are two important points to be aware of however,” Romano added.
“If a club from Italy triggers the clause and puts €12m down, Roma can stop the deal and keep Dybala. They can say ‘no, the player is going nowhere.’
“If Dybala receives a proposal that triggers the clause from a club from abroad – from Spain, England, Germany, Saudi, France or wherever, it’s really important to say that Dybala will have the final say, not Roma.
“Let’s see what’s going to happen but Roma don’t want to lose him in the January transfer window for sure.”
Clearly, it’s an unsettling time for those at the club, and the sooner the rumours surrounding Dybala are definitively put to bed, the better.