Lionel Messi’s Argentina Teammate To Be Future Face Of Juventus Once Cristiano Ronaldo Leaves: Report

Juventus reportedly are planning to make Paulo Dybala the future "face of the club" and captain as the player has agreed to sign a new deal that would last until June 2025.

Dybala, whose current contract expires 2022, could earn nearly $11 million-a-year with bonuses included, according to the new terms of his deal. A report in Italian publication Tuttosport has revealed that Dybala is expected to sign the new contract by August, before the return of the Champions League.

After Dybala had fallen in Juventus’ pecking order under Massimiliano Allegri following the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid in 2018, the Argentinian forward had decided to leave the Serie A champions as he was heavily linked with a move to either Manchester United or Tottenham. It was the North London club that had come close to signing Lionel Messi’s Argentina teammate last summer as Dybala had even filmed a "goodbye" message for his Juventus fans.

However, hours before signing a new deal with the Premier League side, Dybala changed his mind and chose to remain with Juventus, a club he had been associated with since 2015. His affection for the Allianz side also played a part in his decision, which turned out well for Maurizio Sarri's side as the 26-year-old scored 17 goals and provided 13 assists so far in the 2019-20 campaign in 41 competitive games.

The Argentine forward has also developed into a center-forward, making him more versatile and is now counted among the best in the world.

After spending nine years at Real Madrid, Ronaldo moved from Spain to Italy in the 2018 summer and coincidently, the season turned out to be the lowest point in Dybala’s Juventus career as he managed to score just 10 goals in comparison to Ronaldo’s 28. Even in the ongoing campaign, Ronaldo is well ahead of Dybala in terms of the number of goals. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has scored 32 already this season, while Dybala has 17 goals to his name.

However, there have been rumors that in order to lessen the financial burden on the club created by the coronavirus pandemic, Juventus are ready to cash in on aging Ronaldo and the recent report about Dybala’s new deal clearly shows the Italian giants consider Dybala as their future big star and not Ronaldo, who is in the twilight years of his career.

Dybala, who is just five goals away from registering 100 goals for Juventus, joined the "Old Lady" in the summer of 2015. In his debut season, Dybala netted 23 goals before scoring 19 and 26 in the following two seasons.