Paulo Dybala is reportedly set to leave Juventus at the end of the season after failing to agree a new deal with the Italian outfit.
Dybala's contract expires this summer and is now free to begin talks with interested parties ahead of next season, with various outlets linking the 28-year-old with a summer move to Manchester United. Should he make the move to Old Trafford, he would link up with his former Juventus teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, with Dybala previously describing playing with the Portuguese star as a 'pleasure'.
The Juventus attacker has scored 13 goals and registered six assists in 29 appearances so far this season, in what is one of the best spells of his career. Dybala's signing this summer could be paired with the arrival of a new manager at Old Trafford, with Erik ten Hag now United's preferred candidate to take charge next season.
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So, if Dybala was to make the move to United in the summer, what sort of impact could he have at Old Trafford? Could the Argentine attacker help United win silverware next season and close the gap to Manchester City and Liverpool? We simulated the 2022/23 season with Dybala in United's squad and this is what happened.
We 'signed' Paulo Dybala for Man United in summer 2022
To set up this simulation, we used the Football Manager 2022 editor to arrange for Dybala to join United and Ten Hag to become United manager at the start of the 2022/23 season, using FM22 to run the simulation. This is what Dybala's in-game profile looks like on FM22.
Dybala is one of the most talented attackers in Europe, with the ability to play as a playmaker and striker. The Argentinian forward's technical attributes put him amongst the elite attackers in world football with amazing Technique (19), First Touch (19), Dribbling (18), Long Shots (18) and Passing (17).
Dybala is also an amazing set-piece taker as shown by his Free Kick Taking (17), Penalty Taking (16) and Finishing (15) attributes. In addition to the signing of Dybala, United also signed Shakhtar Donetsk right-back Dodo and Benfica midfielder Julian Weigl. Let's take a look at how Dybala performed throughout the 2022/23 season and how he compared to other players in the squad after signing for United in July 2022.
The 28-year-old scored 13 goals and registered eight assists in 49 appearances, starting on 38 occasions under Ten Hag in the 2022/23 season. Dybala totalled 21 goal contributions in his debut season at Old Trafford, bettered only by Jadon Sancho (30), Ronaldo (32) and Bruno Fernandes (38). Not bad at all considering it would be his first season in the Premier League.
The Argentine averaged a match rating of 7.11 in all competitions, bettered only by Sancho (7.44), Marcus Rashford (7.44), Fernandes (7.45) and Ronaldo (7.35), suggesting Dybala was the fifth-best performer in the United squad. Dybala's addition to the squad and improvement in form of other players in the attack saw United create one of the best attacking quartets in Europe. One of the players who improved most under Ten Hag was Rashford, who scored 13 goals and registered seven assists in all competitions, which is a significant improvement compared to this season.
At the end of the 2022/23 season, Football Manager 2022 put together an overall best Manchester United XI, based on performances, statistics and other metrics. This is what the United best XI looked like at the end of the 2022/23 season as predicted by Football Manager 2022.
Full Man United best XI (4-2-3-1): Henderson; Dodo, Maguire, Varane, Shaw; Weigl, Fernandes; Sancho, Dybala, Rashford; Ronaldo.
Fernandes dropped into a deeper role alongside new signing Weigl to allow Dybala to operate alongside Rashford and Sancho, supporting Ronaldo as the lone striker. Interestingly, Ten Hag also picked Dean Henderson ahead of David de Gea. So, how did United perform in the league and cup competitions after signing Dybala at the start of the 2022/23 season?
Manchester United's results from the 2022/23 simulation
In what was a five-team title race at one stage, United eventually finished third in the Premier League with Dybala in the squad, qualifying for the Champions League ahead of both Tottenham and Liverpool. United lost the same amount of games as champions Chelsea, but their inability to hold onto leads cost them crucial points in the title race.
When you compare this simulated season to previous campaigns, United were much closer to clinching the title and were in the title race all season, which is not something that has happened for a while. United finished just eight points behind champions Chelsea and just four behind runners-up Manchester City. United also had the best goalscoring record in the Premier League (72 goals scored), showcasing Dybala's impact.
Dybala and United fared better in the cup competitions as they won the FA Cup. United were unable to seal a domestic double as Spurs beat Ten Hag's side 3-2 in the Carabao Cup final, whilst United crashed out of the Champions League 3-2 on aggregate against rivals City in the quarter-finals.
Overall, this Football Manager simulation predicts that if United were to sign Dybala ahead of the 2022/23 season, the forward could add extra quality to United's attack, potentially helping the club challenge for the Premier League title for an entire campaign. The Juventus star could potentially also help United lift a 13th FA Cup trophy, but the simulation also showed that potentially further additions were needed defensively if they were to win the Premier League once again.
Would you like to see Paulo Dybala s ign for Manchester United? Let us know in the comments!
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