Juventus are beginning to pay heavily for an injury list that has altered Luciano Spalletti’s working week as much as his matchday choices. Across the players already sidelined and the absences still expected, the club face more than 150 missed fixtures over the course of the season.
Eleven Juventus players have suffered at least one physical problem since the campaign began. With seven currently unavailable, Spalletti has increasingly turned to Next Gen players simply to fill out his bench during recent weeks.
Quick facts
- Juventus players have already missed 35 matches through injury.
- A further 119 absences are anticipated across Serie A, the Europa League and the Coppa Italia.
- Federico Gatti and Sarr each missed only one game.
- Juan Cabal is the only current absentee expected to return in the near term.
- Manuel Locatelli and Khephren Thuram are not expected back before 2027.
- Goalkeeper Grabara has been ruled out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury.
Gatti’s single absence followed an ankle problem sustained in an unusual incident during the family friendly, when he collided with a supporter after a pitch invasion. Sarr, meanwhile, missed one match after a delayed pre-season programme linked to an earlier injury suffered at Tottenham.
Weston McKennie has sat out three games because of muscular fatigue. Andrea Cambiaso is expected to miss four following the ankle sprain he sustained against Parma, with a return projected after the international break.
Cabal is the closest of the longer list to a return. The defender has missed three league fixtures and one Europa League match after suffering a low-grade tear to the semimembranosus muscle in his left thigh in early September, and is expected to be absent for two more games.
The next anticipated recoveries among the more serious cases are Ekhator and Jeremie Boga. Ekhator, who had already suffered an injury during the summer before sustaining a medium-grade semitendinosus tear, has missed five matches and is set to lose another six: four in Serie A and two in the Europa League.
Boga is dealing with a medium-grade biceps femoris injury. The Ivorian has already been unavailable for three fixtures and is likely to miss eight further dates, made up of five league matches and three European ties.
Kenan Yildiz is expected to return between late November and early December after surgery to stabilise a fracture at the base of the fifth metatarsal in his left foot. The Turkish forward has already missed five games and is projected to be out for another 11, including seven Serie A rounds and four Europa League fixtures.
The longer horizon is more troubling for Spalletti and the club. Thuram underwent chondroplasty surgery to address patellar cartilage damage in his right knee; after missing five games, he is expected to be unavailable for at least another 20, including 14 league fixtures, five Europa League matches and one Coppa Italia tie.
Locatelli’s timetable is longer still following surgery to repair the lateral meniscus in his right knee. He has missed three matches so far and could be absent for 31 more: 23 in Serie A, seven in Europe and one in the Coppa Italia. Both midfielders are expected to remain out until 2027.
For Grabara, there is no return this season after an anterior cruciate ligament tear in his right knee. Already absent against Atalanta, the goalkeeper is set to miss at least 41 more games, with 33 league matches, seven European fixtures and one Coppa Italia appointment included in that forecast.
The accumulated figure is stark: 35 fixtures already lost, with at least 119 more projected. For Juventus, the injury bill has become a defining burden in the early shape of Spalletti’s season.
