What does the return of Paulo Dybala mean for Mario Mandzukic?

Mario Mandzukic has been in solid form for Juve as of late, but his position in the starting XI is now under threat. (Photo: beIN Sports)

2012, Bayern Munich. 2014, Atletico Madrid. 2015, Juventus. Three different clubs in three different countries in four years for Mario Manduzkic. Coincidentally, the Croatian striker joined die Roten, Los Rojiblancos, and the Bianconeri shortly after all three teams finished as runners-up in the Champions League final. Arguably, players staying with one club for more than a few years is actually the exception rather than the norm; hence that’s why names like John Terry, Steven Gerrard, Ryan Giggs, or Francesco Totti are particularly noteworthy.

Still, no one wants to be constantly on the move year after year. But circumstances can override one’s wishes. Although he scored the first of Bayern’s goals during their 2013 Champions League final win over Dortmund, a year later, Mandzukic was on the move to Spain. Pep Guardiola’s arrival – and the club’s pursuit of Robert Lewandowski – effectively spelled the end of his two-year spell with die Roten.

And despite scoring a solid 20 goals in 43 apps for Diego Simeone’s Atleti, Mandzukic spent just one season in the Spanish capital before being on the move yet again.

All roads lead to Turin

Nonetheless, he wasn’t without a club for long. In fact, the player was eager to reveal his excitement about joining Juventus, and was quoted as saying that he “looked forward to playing alongside Gigi Buffon, whom he had idolized since childhood”. Mandzukic was reportedly on La Vecchia Signora’s wish list back in 2012, but nothing came to fruition. Flash-forward three years later and he was now in a Bianconeri kit. It took a while for him to settle in, and win over the support of the Juventus faithful.

Injuries certainly did not help his cause, either. Mandzukic is not a 30-goal a season striker. The highest total he’s achieved in his club career was 26 during his final year at the Allianz Arena. What he does bring, however, is hustle. His playing style is more athleticism than finesse and despite plying his trade as a forward, he will track all the way back to help with defending and pressing. A prime example of this was during the team’s game against Atalanta, in which at times he featured as an extra defender.

This tireless running helps to mitigate the fact that he doesn’t necessarily score the most goals. But despite scoring a solid, but not spectacular ten Serie A goals in his debut season, Juventus still felt they needed to make an upgrade.

The Higuain-Dybala-Mandzukic conundrum

It’s unheard of for Italian clubs to spend €90 million on a player, especially these days. That’s the kind of money fans see thrown around in the Premier League or La Liga. But with their coffers filled after Paul Pogba’s record-breaking sale, Juventus decided to splash some major cash to bring in Gonzalo Higuain from Napoli.

Cue the buzz about Mandzukic’s future in Turin. Would he be pushed out, similar to what happened at Munich with Lewandowski’s arrival? How would Allegri be able to balance the club record signing, rising starlet Paulo Dybala, and keep Mandzukic happy?

Considering the Bianconeri spent a pretty penny on Higuain, it’s no surprise that he automatically got a starting berth. And Dybala was simply impressive in his debut season with Juventus, with 19 Serie A goals and 23 across all comps. As such, one really could not expect Allegri to drop either of his Argentinian strikers.

That meant Mandzukic would have to settle for a bit-part role. But, in an odd twist of fate, Dybala unfortunately suffered an injury. Pundits figured that playing Mandzukic and Higuain together would be like trying to force two positive magnets to connect – the players were too similar to work in tandem.

Yet, after some initial growing pains, things slowly began to click – especially for the Croatian. Prior to October 26th, he had neither scored nor assisted. Sure, it didn’t help that he oftentimes was subbed out, but it wasn’t a good output for someone hoping to nail down a spot in the starting XI. Since then, however, he has netted five across all comps, whilst chipping in with two assists. He linked up well with Higuain, especially during the match against Dinamo Zagreb.

But he was subbed off against Torino in lieu of Dybala, who is now back from injury. It goes without saying that Mandzukic was not impressed with his manager’s choice.

Now that Dybala is back, what now for Mandzukic?

Saturday’s tie between Juventus and Roma is the biggest match of the upcoming round. It might as well be a derby of its own. The Giallorossi sit four points back, but the Bianconeri obviously will want to maintain their strong home record. At the start of the season, Juve played Fiorentina, and the game was tied at 1-1 until Allegri swapped Mandzukic for Higuain.

It was a brilliant masterstroke. Higuain marked his debut by scoring the winning goal, thus cementing his spot in the starting XI at the expense of Mandzukic. Despite his qualities, any Juve fan knows that the real reason the Croatian was enjoying more playing time was due to Dybala’s injury. With him back, he and Higuain will once again become the preferred duo.

But does that mean for Mandzukic? Over the past few weeks, he’s been like a player possessed, hustling, tackling, making himself available to help out wherever needed. He received the club’s monthly MVP award for his efforts. However, Higuain has netted nine goals, and his position is pretty much guaranteed. Allegri now faces the tough decision on how to keep him motivated in spite of his definite reduced game-time with Dybala’s return. The Italian tactician himself admitted that he needed “more quality” during the Derby della Mole, and it was after his substitution that Juventus netted two more goals, including a second for Higuain.

Last season, Mandzukic and Dybala formed a nice partnership. The Argentine benefited from his taller colleague’s ability to hold up play and draw away defenders, which obviously contributed to his top-scoring season to date. The Higuain-Dybala pairing hasn’t been solidified just yet, but fans and pundits alike have been salivating about the prospect of having the two South Americans play together, and they will see more of that interesting pairing this season.

So, here we have it: Mandzukic + Dybala = works. Mandzukic + Higuain = work in progress. Dybala + Higuain = dream partnership. However, the huge question is, could Mandzukic + Dybala + Higuain spell success?

There has been talk of this and on paper it seems like an interesting proposition. The upcoming match will not be obviously the ideal one to experiment, but should Juventus win, it just may be something Allegri wants to consider to keep everyone happy and firing on all cylinders.