After the injury to Federico Chiesa, Paulo Dybala is more important to Juventus than ever. But as CBS Sports insider Fabrizio Romano has reported, Juventus has decided to wait a few weeks on deciding on new contracts to be extended. This is after they had a verbal agreement in place for three months that Dybala's contract would be extended.
This has led to speculation on if he will stay or go and performances like the one in today's victory over Udinese won't quell that noise. Dybala opened the scoring in the ninth minute with an excellent strike.
Dropping deep, Dybala started the move before laying the ball off to Weston McKennie in midfield. Following a final touch from Moise Kean, Dybala fired an unstoppable strike past the Udinese keeper Daniele Padelli. that was a significant goal for him too.
With Juventus being a middle-of-the-road attacking side in Serie A, every Dybala goal is worth its weight in gold and shows why he needs to be tied down to a new contract instead of possibly being lost for free at the end of the season. His ability to drop deep and make things happen can't be replicated and without it, this squad wouldn't have a chance at a Champions League place.
Dybala knows this as well which led to his goal celebration -- or lack thereof -- after getting the opener. Dybala stared angrily at the directors in the stadium and the message he was sending seemed clear. "Sign me now or all of this walks out the door."
Speaking at the end of the game, Dybala didn't have much on the situation saying, "Many things have happened... I prefer not to talk about it".
As those same directors saw, Juventus managed this game, not creating many chances but then going into cruise control once they were ahead. It shows how important a little magic is.
Another magician would make their mark on the match as Weston McKennie marked his 50th match for Juventus with a goal of his own. For the second match in a row, a good run from McKennie allowed him to get his forehead onto the ball doubling Juventus' lead in the match in the 79th minute.
This is his third league goal of the season as McKennie is growing into a top midfielder in Europe. Whether it's scoring, creating chances, or helping play lockdown defense, McKennie can do it all as he has become one of the first names on the team sheet for Max Allegri.
Udinese would have a chance to make things tight near the end of the match as Daniele Rugani allowed a two-on-one opportunity. Isacc Success would fluff his chance after Rugani got back to break up the mess that he created with a slide tackle to make things easy in the end for goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
The victory will see Juventus rise to joint fifth in Serie A, level on points with Atalanta. As Atalanta are in action Sunday facing Inter Milan, the top four race is officially on as Juventus has ridden an eight-match unbeaten streak since losing to Atalanta back in November.