Paulo Dybala’s return to prominence has become one of the defining threads of Roma’s season: not simply because of his talent, but because his game now appears to serve a stronger, more complete side. The Argentine is no longer carrying every attacking responsibility alone. He is setting the rhythm, finding runners and giving Roma’s forward line the imagination it needs.
After an injury-hit and difficult previous year, Dybala has re-emerged as a central figure in a Roma side that has continued to build momentum since the closing months of last season. His influence is increasingly measured in the chances he creates rather than only the shots he takes.
Quick facts
- Dybala has four official Serie A assists, the highest total in the division.
- His involvement in attacking moves would amount to seven assists without the competition’s technical criteria.
- He supplied the decisive forward pass for Malen against Torino.
- Two deliveries from the right led to Koné goals against Inter.
- He has played more across Roma’s first five league matches than in any previous opening five-game spell with the club.
- His workload also includes a full 90 minutes in the Champions League.
The change is visible in the way Dybala occupies games. He remains capable of finishing himself, but has placed greater emphasis on putting team-mates in front of goal. Against Torino, his vertical pass released Malen; against Inter, two precise balls from the right created goals for Koné.
That evolution matters for Roma. In earlier seasons, Dybala was often required to solve too much himself, playing in an attack without enough reliable scorers. With Malen available and a more competitive squad around him, he can concentrate on the part of the game that comes most naturally: seeing the pass before the rest of the pitch has caught up.
His standing has grown beyond the technical contribution. Dybala has become an important dressing-room reference point, not only within Roma’s Argentine group. Fatherhood has brought another layer of responsibility, while his decision to reduce his salary and push to remain in Rome has strengthened his connection with the club.
A body responding to the season
Roma have also seen a different physical picture from their No. 10. Dybala’s availability through the opening league fixtures represents a marked break from his previous starts to seasons in the capital, when injuries often interrupted his rhythm.
Gian Piero Gasperini’s work has shaped the team’s demands, but Dybala’s preparation has also been adjusted since Alessandro Pilati joined the club during the summer. Pilati arrived after 22 years at Genoa and has overseen changes to the player’s training routine.
Dybala has placed full trust in that programme and no longer works with personal fitness coaches outside Trigoria. His only additional routine is Pilates with his wife, Oriana, a practice that supports both physical conditioning and mental balance.
The result is a player who appears freer to influence matches, and a Roma side better equipped to benefit from him. He can be the final pass rather than the final shot, the organiser rather than the emergency solution.
There is also a wider Serie A note in Dybala’s form. The classic Italian fantasista, the player who can slow a match, invent an angle and turn a routine attack into something unexpected, has become increasingly uncommon in a football shaped by structure and immediate results.
Roma once watched Francesco Totti make the Olimpico his stage. Dybala does not need to imitate that history to understand its weight. In his own manner, through elegance, vision and a renewed commitment to the collective, he is giving the championship one of its rare remaining traditional No. 10s.
For Roma, that is not nostalgia. It is a present-day asset in a season that is taking shape around a fitter Dybala, a more dangerous attack and a player once again able to make Sunday afternoons feel less predictable.
