Paulo Dybala could leave Juventus for free this summer as reports emerge of the Bianconeri withdrawing their contract offer altogether after the Argentine's wage demands.
Both the player and the club have been at loggerheads for sometime over the renewal of his current deal but an agreement looked to have been struck two months ago over the terms of a new four-year deal.
Fast forward to January and the 28-year-old is now staring down the barrel of walking away from Juventus entirely as Football Italia report that Dybala is furious with the club hierarchy for taking their original contract offer off the table due to his reluctance to take a pay-cut.
While Dybala wants any new contract signed to reflect his importance and standing within the squad, a new deal looks less and less likely with each new development.
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The latest of which saw the striker make a particularly pointed gesture after scoring the game's opening goal during a clash with Udinese.
After putting his side in front, Dybala opted against doing his trademark 'mask' celebration and instead stopped in his tracks to glare at the club's directors.
The television cameras immediately turned to club vice-president Pavel Nedved, who looked especially uncomfortable while the rest of the Juventus squad tried to celebrate with the goal-scorer.
The forward was inevitably pressed on his headline-worthy goal celebration come the end of the game, but insisted there was no hinted message.
“I invited a friend and couldn’t see him. There are many people up there watching and I couldn’t find him," he told Sky Sport Italia.
Asked if whether he could truly expect fans to believe that, he replied: "I don’t know, that’s up to you. There have been a lot of stories, and many things happened that I prefer not to talk about."
In a separate interview with DAZN Italy, Dybala explained how negotiations are expected to resume next month.
"I don’t have to prove anything to anyone. I am at the disposal of the coach and the club. My contract? The club said we’ll talk about it in February."
Club legend Andrea Barzagli conceded it could be too late for Dybala and Juventus to reconcile.
"Right now, it’s important to qualify for the Champions League and having or not having Dybala makes the difference, he’s had some injuries lately,” Barzagli told DAZN.
"Now it could be late, but Juventus are making their assessment."
Juventus' original offer was set to pocket Dybala around £10m per year before the deal was amended and then withdrawn, sparking a furious response from the player.
That is a jaw-dropping salary that very few players on the planet could boast, notably high for someone who has already missed six games this term with injury.
It would see Dybala take home more than some of the Premier League's biggest names, toppling the likes of David de Gea, Kevin De Bruyne and former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo.
