Jose Mourinho has confirmed that Paulo Dybala will not play for Roma as a starter in their high-profile clash against Milan at San Siro on Sunday evening.
The Special One, who conducted a blockbuster press conference on Saturday morning, confirmed that Dybala will not be available from minute one, highlighting the lack of any other suitable alternatives available to him and the Giallorossi.
During his weekly meeting with the press, Mourinho compared Roma’s current situation and their availability of players to various coaches in the Premier League, including Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola, Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp and Chelsea’s Mauricio Pochettino.
“Finding a solution to play without Dybala is not the same as finding a solution to play without Haaland for Guardiola, because he has Alvarez. If Sterling doesn’t play for Pochettino, Mudryk plays instead. For Klopp, if Diaz doesn’t play, Jota does, and if he isn’t there, then he plays Nunez. It’s not the same thing,” Mourinho said, reported via TMW.
Roma have been largely unable to build a bigger, more competitive squad due to financial fair play restrictions imposed upon them. This is why the Giallorossi must move players on before signing any new additions in the January transfer window.
“Roma are experiencing a situation as a result of the settlement agreement, which has brought lots of restrictions and these can be seen on the pitch. When something happens during the season, there is no way to hide it,” Mourinho confirmed.
“Roma made an economic effort to have (Chris) Smalling, but Smalling isn’t there and they can’t have another one. Roma made an economic effort to have Renato Sanches and he isn’t available. We can’t have two Renato Sancheses because of our situation.
“Dybala is a truly special player, who in recent years has played in teams with lots of other special players. We don’t have another with his characteristics.”
Mourinho then confirmed that Dybala will not feature as a starter in Roma’s upcoming game against the Rossoneri.
“If you’re asking if the team will be the same, it will not be the same. Paulo doesn’t play as a starter, I will make some changes, certainly.”