Paulo Dybala Reflects on Journey with Roma and Mourinho's Impact

Paulo Dybala is staying in Rome, and he is very clear about who opened the city gates for him.

As he closes in on a contract renewal with Roma, the Argentine forward looked back on his journey to the capital and the coach who made it possible, speaking in an interview with YouTuber Davoo, reported by Corriere dello Sport.

“Mourinho is a genius and a great person,” Dybala said, distilling in one line what many at Trigoria still feel. José Mourinho did not just sign a forward; he built a bond. “He always spoke to us with respect, he took care of us, he loved us, and in Rome the people fell in love with him for what he gave. Thanks to him, I arrived in the capital.”

That last sentence lingers. Without Mourinho, there is no Dybala in giallorosso. No packed Olimpico chanting his name. No number 21 lighting up the Curva Sud. For all the tactical debates and touchline storms, Dybala’s verdict on the Portuguese is simple: he changed the course of his career.

The conversation then moved from the past to a teammate whose present is exploding on the biggest stage. Dybala was asked about El Ayanoui, his Roma colleague and a standout for Morocco at the World Cup.

“He's having a great World Cup, I'm following him,” Dybala said. The admiration is not limited to what happens with the national team. “And at Roma, besides saying he's a strong player, he's also a good guy.”

It is a short line, but it says plenty. In a squad often under the microscope for its temperament and consistency, Dybala highlights not only El Ayanoui’s quality but his character, the kind of detail players notice long before fans and pundits do.

The tone shifted when the subject turned to Budapest and one of the most painful nights of Dybala’s career: the Europa League final defeat to Sevilla. Time has not dulled the frustration, especially with referee Anthony Taylor’s performance still etched in his mind.

“It's true, the handball was absurd,” Dybala admitted, referring to the incident that infuriated Roma and their supporters. But he refused to reduce the anger to a single moment. “That wasn't the only thing that happened during the match. There were several moments when the referee called strange things: he didn't issue any cards, he was very lenient with some Sevilla players.”

The sense of injustice runs deep. Roma felt they were playing against more than just the serial Europa League winners that night. “And then that handball would have rewritten the final result if he had awarded the penalty. It really hurt me to lose that final.”

No theatrics, no need to raise his voice. The hurt is in the details: the “strange” decisions, the leniency, the penalty that never came. For a player who has lifted major trophies elsewhere, this was supposed to be the night he wrote a new chapter in Rome. Instead, it became a scar.

Now, as he prepares to commit his future once more to Roma, Dybala stands at a crossroads familiar to many great players in this city: adored by the fans, marked by a bitter European near-miss, and driven by the feeling that something is still unfinished.

The genius who brought him to Rome has gone. The shirt, the stadium and the expectations remain. The question is no longer why he came, or who convinced him, but what he and this Roma side can still build from the pain of that lost final.