Manuel Locatelli underwent surgery in Lyon on Tuesday — the external meniscus suture that will keep him sidelined until the spring. From Sunday evening at the Mapei Stadium against Sassuolo, someone else will wear the armband of the Juventus captain. And the decision, in La Gazzetta dello Sport’s assessment, is both inevitable and entirely welcome: it will be Gleison Bremer.
The End of the Rotating Captaincy — and Why Certainty Matters
The institutional backdrop to the captaincy question is worth establishing. At the Continassa, they are far from the days of the “rotating captaincy” introduced by Thiago Motta in 2024 — an experiment that generated widespread frustration and was quietly abandoned almost as quickly as it began. Spalletti’s approach is the traditional Juventus one: the coach decides, and he decides with clarity. There is a hierarchy. It is followed. And at the top of that hierarchy, with Locatelli unavailable until 2027, sits Bremer.
Last season, only three players wore the Juventus armband. Locatelli held it virtually every time he started from the first minute — the hierarchy was unambiguous. In his absence, the captaincy fell to Bremer on four occasions and to Yıldız — also currently injured — on two. The precedent is established and Spalletti’s decision will formalise what is already functionally true.
Why Bremer — and What He Brings Beyond the Armband
The case for Bremer is not merely positional. He has been one of the squad’s most consistent and professional presences since returning from cruciate ligament surgery — a recovery he described with characteristic honesty in his Perth interview as the most difficult twelve months of his career. He arrived at the start of the season physically ready, visibly in form, and — as his headed goal against Milan demonstrated — capable of the decisive intervention in the most significant moments. His profile in the dressing room, his relationship with teammates across national and linguistic groups, and the respect he commands from the manager make the transition natural and entirely uncontroversial.
McKennie as Vice-Captain — Once He Returns
The vice-captaincy question is slightly more complicated in the immediate term. Yıldız — who would have been the most likely candidate — is absent until November. In his absence, Weston McKennie emerges as the most natural deputy. The American’s longevity at the club, his relationship with every player in the squad — reflected in the warmth of his recent Tuttosport interview — and his unconditional commitment to the institution make him the obvious second figure once he recovers from the muscular fatigue that has kept him out of the last two matchday squads. The hope within the club is that he will be available for the Sassuolo match, if only from the bench — at which point the formal vice-captaincy can be established alongside the new captain.
The armband has moved from one arm to another. As Tardelli said earlier this week: that part is simple. The harder task is the one the squad must now perform on the pitch, without its captain, in the most demanding stretch of fixtures the season will produce.
