Dybala: The summer wasn't easy but I feel less weight on my shoulders now

Paulo Dybala admits he feels like a weight has been taken off his shoulders after staying at Juventus and scoring against Inter in the Derby d’Italia.

Dybala was heavily linked with moves to Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain over the summer, amidst speculation that he did not fit into Maurizio Sarri’s plans.

However, the Argentina forward ended up sticking with Juve and played a key role in their 2-1 win at Inter.

"It wasn’t an easy summer," he told Corriere della Sera.

"Hearing your name linked to every team and every place, where you don’t want to go, isn’t a nice thing.

"But this is football, even if before the transfer window opened I said: ‘I want to stay here.’

"I think it was more important to let the pitch do the talking, even if until the last day no-one knew what would happen.

"I wanted to stay, I wanted to play here and continue my career at Juve. I think I can still give a lot and I showed a glimpse of that against Inter.

"I feel less weight on my shoulders and very calm mentally. I was convinced that with Sarri, I'd start to have fun, work and prove what I'm worth. And that's what I'm trying to do.

"Sarri and Allegri have different ways of playing, and it shows. With Allegri we did so many things, but I think we play a bit more attacking with Sarri and we play the ball more.

"After that, of course, we'll have to see what happens during the season. My goal was important, for the team and I, to score at that moment, for how we got to the game.

"They'd never lost in the League and now we're the only unbeaten team in Europe: when it comes to Juventus, sometimes you need to have a bit of respect."