Joao Mario’s situation at Juventus has quickly become one of the curiosities of the early season, with the Portuguese wide player slipping completely out of Luciano Spalletti’s plans after a promising start. Once seen as a useful option for the right flank, he now finds himself on the fringes of the squad and facing serious questions over his future in Turin.
IlBianconero report how. In the recent trip to Bodo to face Bodo Glimt, every major summer signing saw the pitch at some stage, from early introductions like Lois Openda to later appearances from Jonathan David and Edon Zhegrova. Everyone featured except Joao Mario, whose absence now barely even raises an eyebrow, so accustomed have observers become to his total lack of minutes. After encouraging signs in pre-season and in the opening rounds of the campaign, the former Porto man has gradually disappeared from the radar, used less and less until being completely excluded from the rotation.
This was not the scenario envisaged when he arrived, nor after his first outings in black and white. The change on the bench has certainly not helped him; if anything, the coaching switch has pushed him even further to the margins. The current picture is stark: four consecutive matches spent entirely on the bench against Sporting Lisbon, Torino, Fiorentina and Bodo Glimt, with not a single minute of action. The last time Joao Mario stepped onto the pitch was almost a month ago, in Cremonese–Juventus, Spalletti’s debut, when he was introduced around the 80th minute. That brief cameo remains his only appearance under the new coach and now looks less like an experiment and more like a clear indication of the staff’s hierarchy and trust levels.
What makes this lack of involvement even more striking is that the right flank is one of the areas where Juventus are hardly overflowing with natural options. In recent games Spalletti has alternated Andrea Cambiaso on one side with Filip Kostic on the other, and also used Weston McKennie, while Igor Tudor before him had preferred Pierre Kalulu as a wide man. In other words, everyone but Joao Mario has been tried there, often asking others to adapt out of position. It is difficult not to read this as a strong signal of limited confidence in the Portuguese full-back at this stage.
Spalletti stated after the match against Fiorentina that he wanted to widen the rotation and involve the whole squad, and in Bodo he seemed to follow through by starting the likes of Openda, Fabio Miretti and Adzic. Yet within this group of 18–20 players the coach says he fully trusts, Joao Mario is conspicuously absent. The upcoming fixtures against Cagliari in Serie A and Udinese in the Coppa Italia at the Allianz Stadium, at least on paper, could offer a chance to hand minutes to those who have seen little action so far. It is unlikely that Joao Mario will start against Cagliari, but a starting berth or a substantial role in the Coppa Italia would be more plausible. Should he remain unused even in that context, it would resemble a definitive verdict, a clear message that his status is unlikely to change.
Joao Mario arrived in Turin in the deal that sent Alberto Costa the other way, a move made without huge fanfare but with the expectation that he could provide depth and energy on the flank. Few, however, would have predicted such a marginal role so soon. In this context, it is natural that the idea of parting ways as early as January comes onto the table. Much will depend on what happens over the next month and on the player’s own wishes: whether he chooses to stay, fight for his place and attempt to overturn the coach’s judgement, or whether he decides that his best chance of regular football lies away from Juventus.
