Paulo Dybala has found being compared to Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar damaging , according to Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri.
A strong start to the Serie A season, which featured hat-tricks against Sassuolo and Genoa, intensified suggestions Dybala could become the player to break Messi and Ronaldo s decade-long stranglehold on the Ballon d Or.
Dybala has since gone off the boil, scoring only once in Serie A since October, leading Allegri to regularly leave the Argentina international on the bench.
Allegri again denied he has fallen out with Dybala reportedly the subject of an offer worth £70million plus Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Manchester United but hinted the 24-year-old has been distracted by speculation.
The relationship with him absolutely hasn t changed, Allegri told reporters on Friday. Dybala came to Juventus three years ago and I think he s grown a lot.
Juventus put even more emphasis on his qualities and he s given a lot to Juventus. In my opinion, he still has huge margins for improvement.
The comparisons which were made at the start [of the season] were damaging for Paulo, but fortunately he s a smart lad and he understands you can t compare a lad of 24 to two sacred monsters of football [Messi and Ronaldo], who have won 10 Ballons d Or.
Plus there s Neymar who is another that is close. So Paulo has to make his own way and not be compared to any other player. He has his own qualities, he s an extraordinary player. You just have to watch him to see he s different from the others.
But these comparisons which were made were a bit damaging, these are comparisons which cannot and should not be made, you can t compare a 24-year-old lad to two who have won 10 Ballons d Or. But in Italy It s not just Dybala, Dybala is the least of that problem. There are lads who play half an hour and the next day they re worth €40million.
Here s your 21-man squad called up by for !
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Juventus face Verona in Serie A on Saturday, bringing teenage striker Moise Kean up against his parent club.
He s doing well at Verona, Allegri said. He s a lad who was born in 2000 and has important qualities.
He has to improve technically, so he needs to work but he s understood you need to make sacrifices to reach certain levels. That s an important thing.
