Cassano: Dybala is not at the level to play for Real Madrid or Barcelona

Italian was critical of current transfer market prices

Posted Saturday, August 26, 2017 by Marca.com

Neymar's departure from Barcelona created huge speculation about just who would replace him and one of the initial names suggested was Paulo Dybala, however Antonio Cassano has suggested that the Argentine is not yet good enough to play for either Real Madrid or Barcelona.

After bursting onto the Italian scene with Palermo, Dybala has gone from strength to strength since his transfer to Juventus in 2015 although there remain concerns over his goalscoring record.

In his debut season in Turin the 23-year-old netted 19 league goals, yet that dipped to just 11 last campaign and the former Real Madrid forward Cassano does not believe this is good enough to feature at either of Spain's biggest clubs.

"In my opinion Dybala cannot play for either Real Madrid or Barcelona, he is not at that level," he explained to La Gazzetta dello Sport.

The 222 million euro fee paid by Paris Saint-Germain to sign Neymar has undoubtedly changed the face of the transfer market with fees skyrocketing since that deal was finalised.

Ousmane Dembele is expected to sign for Barcelona in an operation that will reach 150m euros whilst Kylian Mbappe's move to PSG will exceed even that figure.

Andrea Belotti is one of Monaco's first choices to replace the French teenager but with Torino refusing to entertain any offers lower than his 100m release clause, the 35-year-old has been left bemused by such valuations.

"Neymar was worth the money paid for him by PSG but if Andrea Belotti is worth 100m euros then Luis Suarez surely has to cost 500m euros," added Cassano.

Cassano has been involved in a summer saga of his own as he has twice left Hellas Verona and announced his retirement from the sport, only to reconsider his future shortly afterwards.

The former AC Milan goalscorer intimated that joining such a young dressing room in Verona caused him to reconsider his decision.

"I didn't feel comfortable," he admitted. "They were all young guys and it was not the ideal place for me and I preferred to leave immediately.

"I am not crazy. I knew what I was doing and I was not a good fit for Verona, so I left."

Retirement is still on the table for Cassano although he doesn't yet know the decision he will make in this regard.

"I have never wanted to be the guy to give life lessons to young people in a dressing room," added the Italia. "I still don't know if I will retire but I would only sign for Virtus Entella or Cagliari."