'We will have him here next season': Andrea Pirlo snuffs out speculation over Paulo Dybala's future as the under-fire Juventus boss heaps praise on 'important' Argentina attacker

 

'We will have him here next season': Andrea Pirlo snuffs out speculation over Paulo Dybala's future as the under-fire Juventus boss heaps praise on 'important' Argentina attacker 

• Paulo Dybala's contract at Juventus comes to an end in the summer of 2022 
• Andrea Pirlo has reaffirmed his desire to hang on to the Argentine forward
• Dybala made his Serie A return after injury by scoring a vital goal against Napoli
• Juventus may need to sell some key stars this summer amid their financial woes

Andrea Pirlo has appeared to confirm that Paulo Dybala will be staying at Juventus next season despite reports surrounding his future in Turin.

The Argentine's contract comes an end in June 2022 and with the Serie A giants facing financial issues this season, the 27-year-old could be a player that the Old Lady cash in on this summer.

Italian news outlet Corriere dello Sport claim that Juventus need to raise £85million by the end of June to balance their financial books, but Pirlo has come out to declare his side's desire to keep the forward beyond his contract expiration date. 

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Juventus boss Andrea Pirlo (left) has stated his desire to keep Paulo Dybala (right) at the club

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The 27-year-old's deal comes to an end in the summer of 2022 amid Juventus' financial woes

Pirlo told his pre-match press conference before Juventus' clash with Genoa on Sunday: 'I've always said Dybala is an important player and unfortunately I haven't had him at my disposal very much this season. 

'Let's look at the present, because that is more important than the future. He still has a year left on his contract, so we will have him here next season. Dybala is a player who makes the difference.

'I do hope to be able to use Cristiano Ronaldo, Alvaro Morata and Dybala together at some point. I can say it's probable Dejan Kulusevski will start (against Genoa).'

A knee injury picked up at the start of January has limited Dybala to just 17 appearances in all competitions for Juventus this season, with the 27-year-old starting the majority of those matches. 

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Dybala (right) marked his return to Serie A action after injury with a vital goal against Napoli

Dybala returned to Serie A action in midweek in dramatic fashion by coming off the bench to score the vital goal in Juventus' 2-1 victory over Napoli on Wednesday night. 

The Argentine, who won last year's Serie A MVP award as Juventus won their ninth Scudetto title in a row, has come close to leaving the Italian giants before and was heavily linked with a move to Tottenham in the summer of 2019. 

But Corriere dello Sport report that midfielder Weston McKennie will be one of several first-team stars put on the Old Lady's transfer list this summer over Dybala. 

Merih Demiral, Alex Sandro, Adrien Rabiot, Aaron Ramsey, Federico Bernardeschi are the other Juventus players who could be used to raise money after a difficult financial period.

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Juventus, led by Pirlo and owner Andrea Agnelli (left), announced losses of £99m this season

The Turin club announced a loss of just under £100million for the first six months of the 2020-21 season - more than double of their losses this time last year - which is mostly due to the coronavirus pandemic and the lack of matchday income due to empty stadiums. 

Juventus stars agreed to waive four months' wages totalling £80m to help club finances amid the coronavirus crisis between March and June last year. Their highest earner is Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo on £496,000 a week. 

In their mid-season financial statement for this season, Juventus predicted that financial losses are expected to continue.