Serie A is no stranger to seeing players join rival clubs and it is something which is witnessed pretty much every season.
Pedro, controversially enough, left Roma after a season to join Lazio last summer and it was the first time in 40 years that a player was crossing the intangible divide. Dusan Vlahovic, much to the distaste of Fiorentina fans, moved to Juventus and for some days, it was low-key reminiscent of Roberto Baggio’s much-abhorred switch to La Vecchia Signora.
Those two cases, in isolation, are much different to that of Paulo Dybala, who seems all but set to join Inter after faithfully serving the Bianconeri for seven years now. For some, La Joya is already the ‘traitor’ but life and football have never been that simple.
Pedro had endured a poor spell at the Giallorossi. Vlahovic’s nationality and time spent at La Viola made him loosely connected to Firenze – especially as compared to Federico Chiesa and Federico Bernardeschi.
For a long while – apart from the time when Juve saw Cristiano Ronaldo as their acquired emblem, Dybala was Juventus. There was a burden of expectation that he was carrying in every game of putting on exceptional performances and ever since joining from Palermo, he lived up to the expectations. Over time, a rather unbreakable bond was formed between the club’s fans and the Argentine. Dybala’s almost childlike features and dimunitive figure sometimes helped him connect with a younger crowd more, if not for his appealing Lionel Messi-like technique.
And for a while – before injuries struck, rough comparisons with Messi himself were made. And barring one season under Massimiliano Allegri, he became the lynchpin of the side. He made the club’s strikers tick – from Gonzalo Higuain, Mario Mandzukic, Cristiano Ronaldo and now Vlahovic. Despite the pile-up of injuries, he made game-changing impacts when he was fit.