Transfer Centre

Paulo Dybala opens up on failed Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur move

By Daniel Lewis, Senior Reporter | 10 June 2020

Dybala opens up on failed Man Utd, Spurs move

Paulo Dybala confirms that Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur tried to sign him last summer, but he felt that it was the wrong time to leave Juventus.

Juventus forward Paulo Dybala has confirmed that he came close to joining Manchester United or Tottenham Hotspur last summer.

The Argentina international was heavily linked with a switch to the Premier League after falling out of favour at the Allianz Stadium.

Despite interest from United and Spurs, as well as French giants Paris Saint-Germain, Dybala opted to stay in Turin and has been a regular under Maurizio Sarri this term.

Speaking to CNN, the 26-year-old said: "It was more or less last year at this point when Juventus didn't want to count on me, didn't want me to continue playing here.

"That's when I was contacted and there were some clubs that were interested in me. Among those were Manchester United and Tottenham. I think for a long time there were conversations, then Paris Saint-Germain also appeared.

"I did not speak directly to any of them, but there were conversations with the clubs. However, my intention at the time was to stay. I hadn't had a good year or a positive last six months, so I didn't want to leave with that image because I think I had given the club a lot of nice moments and it wasn't fair that I went like this.

"So I also communicated that my intention was to stay, work to grow and give my best here. Obviously it was not easy because Juventus's intentions were different, but after the market closed, there was no more time and with the arrival of Sarri I grew a lot."

Dybala revealed in the same interview that he is interested in linking up with international teammate Lionel Messi at Barcelona in the future.