Michel Platini has hailed Paulo Dybala for matching his Serie A stats with Juventus but considers him more ‘Maradona-esque’ than like him.
Dybala now sits on 157 appearances and 68 goals for Juve in the top flight, putting him on par with the numbers Platini recorded between 1982 and 1987.
“Avvocato [Gianni Agnelli] is no longer with us so I can’t make him say things he might not have, but yes… if he liked Sivori, I think he’d have appreciated Dybala greatly,” the Frenchman told Gazzetta dello Sport.
“The Argentine’s very good on the pitch and he’s fresh-faced. He comes across as a likeable lad.
“It’s interesting that he’s matched me for goals and appearances in Serie A. Figures are one thing, but we’re different players.
“I always try to avoid comparisons, but I can say that he’s definitely better than me in one thing: he’s 40 years younger…
“He’s also definitely more of an attacker than I was. He’s a forward. They can play him wherever they want, but he’s still a forward.
“He also scores enough goals. I was a midfielder who scored lots of goals, a team player who drove everyone else on, more than Dybala. It’s not that he doesn’t, but he’s an attacker.”
The 65-year-old, who was nicknamed ‘Le Roi’ (The King), was then asked about Dybala’s partnership with Cristiano Ronaldo.
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“Ronaldo is what he is and can’t be called into question. We’d miss him [if he left].
“He’s a great champion who wins games, wins trophies and has been playing at the highest level for a while now.
“They go well together. Dybala could’ve left last year, it’s the laws of the market, but if he stayed then it’s a good thing for him and Juve.
“He’s not Platini. He’s more… Maradona-esque.”
