The 2025 Club World Cup, which kicked off last Saturday in the United States, features a star-studded lineup in its first edition under the new format — including numerous World Cup champions. And in recent hours, it’s been revealed that another one could have joined the competition: Paulo Dybala.
According to Argentine journalist César Luis Merlo, speaking on PicadoTV, Dybala — currently playing for AS Roma — received a massive offer of $10 million just to participate in the tournament, which runs from June 14 to July 13. The offer came from Al Hilal, the Saudi powerhouse competing in Group H alongside Real Madrid, RB Salzburg, and Pachuca.
“This is something I’ve never shared before: Al Hilal offered Paulo Dybala $10 million just to play for a month — a couple of matches, really — since it wasn’t clear how far the team would go,” said Merlo. “Dybala thanked the Saudi club, which is one of the richest in the world, but he said, ‘No, I’m not going to play in the Club World Cup.’”
Al Hilal has made similar high-profile offers to several top European players in its search to replace Neymar, who left the club in January and is not expected to return. Besides Dybala, the club also reportedly approached Victor Osimhen, Raphinha, and Nicolo Barella.
Dybala previously turned down another offer from Saudi Arabia
This wasn’t the first major proposal Dybala has rejected from Saudi clubs. In an interview with Los Edul a few weeks ago, the 2022 World Cup champion revealed he had turned down a massive deal from Al-Qadsiah last August.
“The private jet was parked in Rome for three days,” Dybala said, reflecting on the situation. “It’s not as simple as it looks. Everything changes.”
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The offer? $80 million — a figure the forward confirmed. “It’s true, I won’t lie. The numbers that were reported — when you see them on paper, and know they’d be yours if you sign — it really makes you think,” he admitted. “You start to consider it seriously. But once I sat down with Oriana (his partner), everything changed. We weighed a lot of things on the scale.”
