Locatelli injury: Surgery, impact on Juventus midfield

captain of juventus Manuel Locatelli He will undergo surgery on the external meniscus he injured during Sunday’s draw with Milan, with the preferred repair reportedly keeping him out for at least three months.

Further tests reportedly confirmed the need for surgery tuto movement. The preferred solution was described as a meniscal repair, considered a more durable route but one that would sideline Locatelli the longest, rather than the quicker but less robust alternative.

The midfield is already stretched thin

The timing couldn’t be worse for Luciano Spalletti. Juventus is gone Kefren ThuramHe is not expected to play until 2027 after undergoing surgery; Weston McEnany Missed the last two games due to muscle fatigue.

new signing Pap Sal He also missed the game against Milan because he arrived from Tottenham Hotspur with a slight muscle problem and lacked sufficient preparation time. Elsewhere in the squad, Kenan Yildiz is not expected to return until after the November international break, with Jeff Héctor and Juan Cabal both facing around a month’s layoff, while Andrea Cambiaso is nursing a minor ankle sprain – the full scope of Juventus’ wider injury picture.

Spalletti’s midfield options

Locatelli will remain in the treatment room for a long time and Spalletti faces a real emergency in the middle of the park. The Juventus boss is likely to look to the next generation of squad for reinforcements, with Owusu among the youngsters being considered for first-team opportunities.

The scale of the problem has also reignited wider questions about Juventus’ midfield depth, an area already under scrutiny amid the club’s links with Franck Kessie, while Douglas Luiz’s role as a deeper option is likely to become even more important in Locatelli’s absence.

Luca Ferretti

At Juventus Football Club, Luca covers match analysis, team news and the long-term of the Juventus season. He writes from the perspective of someone who truly cares about the direction the club is going, rather than simply reporting what has happened. His focus tends to be on how the team was built, where things went wrong and what changes need to be made to return Juventus to its place in the European leagues.

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