Paulo Dybala’s future at Juventus remains unclear after boss Maurizio Sarri suggested the Argentine could depart as he looks to trim his squad down.

The 25-year-old was strongly linked with a move to the Premier League as Tottenham and Manchester United were both in talks to sign the forward.

However, the close proximity to the English transfer deadline scuppered a switch to Spurs while United pulled out of a swap-deal involving Romelu Lukaku when it became clear Dybala was not keen on the transfer.

It’s left the Argentina international in an awkward spot with Sarri looking to offset his summer business by trimming as much as six players to meet Champions League requirements.

“I can talk with him but the market goes in a certain direction and what I say counts for zero,” Sarri said after Dybala returned to action for Juve in their 2-1 International Champions Cup defeat to Atletico Madrid.

“Six players must be cut [and could also be sold] depending on the market.

“I would like to keep all of them but our problem is that we do not have players who have grown up within the club – we have only one. So our squad for the Champions League must be 22 players with three goalkeepers and this puts us in difficulty because the market dictates we may have to make choices that we don’t like.”

While Sarri was non-committal on Dybala’s immediate future, the Italian did say the forward has the ability to fit into his plans.

“He’s done two training sessions and today he played half an hour,” Sarri said.

“It’s clear he can’t be in top physical condition and the fact he’s not fit means he can’t play the false nine role.

“But I think he has the ability, and has scored the goals previously, to play there and a technically good player can play in a number of roles. When he’s fit we’ll see if he can play that role in the penalty box.”