Kenan Yıldız is finally getting the break he so desperately needs. After Turkey’s painful World Cup elimination at the hands of the United States, the Juventus number ten has retreated to the place he knows and loves best — Ratisbona, Germany, the city where he grew up — for a period of rest, family time, and quiet reflection. But behind the sunshine and the holiday photographs, a significant and potentially career-defining question is beginning to take shape around the 20-year-old’s right knee.
The Injury That Would Not Go Away
It is no secret that Yıldız’s World Cup was heavily and persistently affected by a physical problem he carried throughout the tournament. The patellar tendinopathy — an inflammation of the tendon connecting the kneecap to the shinbone — has been an ongoing issue for months, and it did not resolve itself during the tournament. It continues to cause him discomfort. In 84 minutes against the United States, he held his level, his pace, and his confidence — but playing through a full domestic season, potentially exceeding fifty appearances, is an entirely different physical and psychological challenge.
Since returning from the United States, Yıldız has continued the treatment protocols that form part of his ongoing recovery programme. Those treatments will continue. And when he returns to the Continassa — expected around 20 July, just over three weeks after Turkey’s last match — his condition will be assessed in careful detail: the level of pain he is experiencing, how much he will need to tolerate in the early stages of pre-season training, and whether any adjustments to his individual workload are necessary.
Surgery: Not Planned, But Not Ruled Out
The most significant line in Tuttosport’s reporting is this: surgery to resolve the problem permanently remains a possibility. It is not currently on the agenda — not a concrete plan — but it has not been ruled out, and the sense from those close to the player is that the decision will ultimately rest with Yıldız himself, alongside those who know him best. At twenty years old, managing a recurring knee problem season after season is manageable. But at twenty years old, you also have the time and the opportunity to resolve it once and for all.
The two paths are clear. Surgical intervention — with the associated recovery period — would likely cost him the opening weeks of the season, potentially more, but would offer the prospect of a complete and durable resolution. Conservative management would allow him to begin pre-season more or less on schedule, but carries the risk that the problem recurs or worsens under the accumulated physical load of a long season. The decision is not yet made. In two weeks, when medical staff at the Continassa can properly assess his condition, that picture will become significantly clearer.
Holidays with Huijsen — and a Transfer Market That Is Not Getting Near Him
On a lighter note, Yıldız’s period of recovery has also featured time spent with his inseparable friend Dean Huijsen — the young Spanish defender who remains at Real Madrid despite Mourinho’s continued admiration and Florentino Pérez’s personal interest. For all the transfer speculation that surrounds both players, neither has any current prospect of departure. Huijsen stays at Madrid; Yıldız stays at Juventus. There are no offers on the table, no concrete possibility that can change that picture — at least for now.
What is certain is that Yıldız has become increasingly central and settled within this Juventus project. He drove the team forward for as long as his knee allowed, and the criticism he received from a section of supporters in the final weeks of the season — arriving just weeks after his new contract was signed — is water under the bridge. The priority now is simple: recover, rest, decide, and return ready. Whether that return comes on the very first day of pre-season, or a little later, will shape the opening weeks of a Juventus season that cannot afford to begin without its most important player.
