Amidst all that, the Bianconeri’s financial mismanagement nearly victimised Dybala. He could have easily departed for Manchester United or Tottenham in 2019 but he didn’t; almost forcing a stay especially when United came calling. Acts like those are barely seen in the game today and following that strange saga, he picked up the MVP of the Season accolade. He made sure that he had nothing else to prove to the fans.
Injuries came along the way and it isn’t something one can blame a player for. In a way, those fitness issues are a key reason for why Juve didn’t want to renew his deal. There’s a risk involved, even if Dybala still comes up with decisive contributions. For a club which has shown that it isn’t well-run, the risk is even bigger. The club’s PR line stated that the Bianconeri can’t make Dybala a centre of the project – something which he demanded. All that, when they’re actually looking to sign an aged Angel di Maria after the promise of signing younger players.
In an ideal world, Dybala never picked up constant muscle injuries and he signed the deal because making him the centre of the project was worth it due to that. And it is not like he forced his way out. As Pavel Nedved pointed out, it was the club that decided not to go with him. Clearly, Dybala would have loved to stay but circumstances do not allow it. Injuries and the club’s decision mean that he became a sad victim of circumstance.
If he had left for Inter while being under contract like Higuain had departed Napoli amidst acrimony in Naples, he would have been responsible for the pain that would have saddened the Old Lady fans. That would have been well worthy of the ‘traitor’ tag. And this is barely a comparable situation. It would certainly be painful for the fans if he scores against Juve. But for a club that pushed him out when he wanted to stay and was privately emotional about it, that scenario would be a classic case of karma.