Juventus Struggles as Locatelli Faces Surgery and Long Absence

Juventus walked off the pitch on Sunday night believing they had escaped with a hard-fought point against AC Milan. They did not escape the real damage.

Captain Manuel Locatelli left the Allianz Stadium with a sore knee and a worried medical staff. The subsequent tests confirmed exactly what Juventus feared most: a serious injury to the external meniscus that demands immediate surgery, not a quick clean-up.

The club has chosen the more complex route. According to Tuttosport, the preferred solution is a meniscus suture, a repair designed to safeguard the joint for the long term rather than simply removing damaged tissue. It is the right call for the player’s career. It is brutal for Juventus’ season.

A suture means at least three months out. Realistically, Locatelli will not be seen again before the winter break. The heartbeat of their midfield, gone for the entire first half of the campaign.

Midfield stretched to breaking point

The timing could hardly be worse. Juventus were already operating with a patched-up engine room. Khephren Thuram is in the middle of a long and complicated recovery after surgery for femoro-patellar syndrome, with his return to competitive football not expected until 2027. That is not an absence; it is an era.

Locatelli had been the one holding things together, covering space, dictating tempo, offering a reliable outlet in front of the defence. Now that safety net has vanished.

The problems stack up quickly. Weston McKennie has missed the last two matches due to persistent muscular fatigue, his body refusing to cooperate at a time when his versatility is badly needed. Pape Sarr, brought in from Tottenham Hotspur to inject energy and quality, arrived with a minor muscular issue and without a proper pre-season. He is still playing catch-up, not yet ready to be thrown in as an automatic starter.

A team stripped of ideas up front

The damage does not stop in midfield. Up front, Kenan Yildiz remains a long-term absentee after foot surgery, with his return only expected after the November international break. His absence has already dulled Juventus’ edge in the final third.

Without Yildiz’s invention between the lines and Locatelli’s range of passing from deep, Juventus have looked blunt against organised Serie A defences. Recent draws have underlined the problem: plenty of possession, not enough incision. Now the main distributor has been taken out of the system as well.

Defence feeling the strain

Even at the back, where Juventus usually pride themselves on depth and reliability, the injury list bites. Jeff Ekhator and Juan Cabal are both sidelined and forecast to miss roughly another month as they work through their respective recoveries.

Andrea Cambiaso, at least, offers a sliver of good news. The Italy international is dealing with a minor ankle sprain, and there is cautious optimism he will return sooner than the others. But for now, every tweak, every knock feels like another crack in the structure.

Spalletti turns to youth

With senior options evaporating across the pitch, Luciano Spalletti has little choice but to turn his gaze toward the club’s youth ranks. Juventus Next Gen, competing in the lower tiers of Italian football, is no longer just a development project. It is a lifeline.

Several youngsters are expected to be drafted into first-team training and matchday squads to plug the gaps and keep intensity high during the most congested stretch of the season. Among the names circulating most often in internal discussions is Augusto Owusu, a promising talent whose performances for the reserve side have caught the eye of the club’s scouts and technical staff.

This is the reality facing Juventus: a captain on the operating table, a midfield in pieces, a forward line stripped of its spark, and a defence creaking under strain. The question now is not simply how they survive until winter, but which of these enforced opportunities will shape the next generation of the club.