Two hundred million euros’ worth of player unavailable. This is the extraordinary and sobering financial dimension of the injury crisis that has defined Juventus’s opening months — and La Gazzetta dello Sport’s audit, calculated from the squad valuations established in the most recent transfer market assessment, places the full cost of the season’s medical misfortune in the starkest possible context.
The Calculation — and Why Yıldız Dominates the Figure
The single player who accounts for the largest portion of that €200 million is the one whose absence has been most acutely felt. Yıldız — who recently renewed his contract with the club and is valued at approximately €100 million — represents fully half of the total figure on his own. The Turkish number ten had been expected to be the offensive focal point of Spalletti’s project from the very first day of the season; instead, his fifth metatarsal fracture sustained at Frosinone on opening day sent him to Augsburg for surgery and the Continassa for rehabilitation, and the manager has been required to construct attacking solutions around a gap that Conceição, González, and Alajbegovic have combined to fill better than anyone had a right to expect.
Following Yıldız in the valuation ranking: Thuram, assessed at approximately €35 million at the Continassa, whose knee chondroplasty in Lyon has ruled him out until 2027. Locatelli — worth at least as much again — whose external meniscus suture means he will not return before January at the earliest. Then Boga, Ekhator, Cabal, and the others who have contributed to the accumulated total.
Ekhator — the One Whose Return Carries the Greatest Expectation
Among the players in the treatment room, Gazzetta’s most pointed observation concerns the young Italian-Nigerian striker who was signed from Genoa for €18 million and has yet to play a single competitive minute for the club. The two separate muscle injuries — a semitendinosus tear in August and a second thigh problem in September — have created a particular and specific expectation around his return: this is the player the club ultimately signed as the physical, direct centre-forward profile that Spalletti spent the whole summer requesting. When he returns — targeted for late October or November — the assessment of whether the summer’s final attacking calculation adds up will begin in earnest.
The Return Timeline — Who Comes Back When
The November international break is identified as the decisive moment for the majority of the shorter-term absentees. Boga, Cabal, Ekhator, and Cambiaso are all targeting that window. Yıldız — whose rehabilitation at the Continassa has begun following his return from Germany — is also expected to return from competition around the same period, with the club committed to bringing him back only when he is fully ready.
Thuram and Locatelli represent the longer arc: both targeting January at the earliest, with Thuram’s return potentially extending further into 2027 depending on how the post-surgical knee recovery progresses. The season’s opening half will be navigated, in their entirety, without two of Spalletti’s most important midfield starters.
Cambiaso, McKennie, Kolo Muani — The Three Who Return Immediately
The three players closest to availability as the international break concludes are confirmed: Cambiaso has returned to full training and is expected to be available for Cagliari on 11 October; McKennie is back; Kolo Muani’s finger fracture surgery was minor and the recovery window provided by the break has been fully sufficient. The squad that resumes competitive football on 11 October is meaningfully better resourced than the one that last played on 20 September.
