Paulo Dybala has become hot property thanks to his Palermo form, but insists he is “not worth €42m.”
President Maurizio Zamparini claims the 21-year-old will eventually cost more than Javier Pastore or Edinson Cavani, both players who came through the Sicilian club on their way to PSG.
“There are not many players who are worth €42m and I today I am certainly not one of them,” Dybala told SportWeek.
Paulo Dybala has become hot property thanks to his Palermo form, but insists he is “not worth €42m.”
President Maurizio Zamparini claims the 21-year-old will eventually cost more than Javier Pastore or Edinson Cavani, both players who came through the Sicilian club on their way to PSG.
“There are not many players who are worth €42m and I today I am certainly not one of them,” Dybala told SportWeek.
“The President really likes me and we all know when you put a microphone in front of him, he likes to talk! If things go well, as they are at the moment, then he’s even more talkative.
“He keeps telling me to sign the contract! It expires in 2016 and I have no problems staying. However, we need both of us to be happy with that situation.”
This week Italy Coach Antonio Conte confirmed he asked Dybala to play for the Azzurri, seeing as he has an Italian passport thanks to a grandmother from Naples.
He took a while to settle in Sicily, although for unexpected reasons.
“In Argentina it is never this hot. When they took me to the training camp and I saw the sea 10 metres from my hotel, I said to myself: this is paradise. It’s incredible, as in mid-November there are still people swimming in the sea and others who go around in scarves and coats. I like to swim too, but I am afraid to go too far out to sea.
“The food in Palermo is fantastic and the people are so kind. I know at the start they expected more from me, but it was complicated adapting to your football. I came from Argentina’s version of Serie B, but here the play is quicker, more physical and tactical. Even the referees are different.”
Dybala arrived in Palermo at the age of 18, just three years after losing his father to pancreatic cancer.
“In order to protect me, my parents wouldn’t tell me everything, so I made myself believe he would recover. Sometimes I dream of him at night and every time I wake up in tears.
“His dream was to have a professional football player for a son. I never gave up and today I know my father is proud of me.”