The international break has delivered one more medical setback to the Juventus ecosystem. Adin Licina — the 19-year-old fantasista on loan at Cremonese who this week was named winner of the Gianluca Vialli Award for the best young talent in Serie B — has suffered a fracture to his left wrist during the friendly match played between Juventus and Cremonese at the Juventus Training Center on Friday. The operation to reduce the fracture was performed on Friday evening by Dr Pegoli at the J-Medical — the same surgeon who earlier in this window operated on Kolo Muani’s fractured finger — and was entirely successful. Licina will now rest for 72 hours, after which further assessments of his condition will be carried out.
From the Assist to the Injury — the Sequence of Events
Licina had been one of the standout figures of the friendly’s first half, wearing the number 10 shirt for Cremonese and operating in the role that has already made him one of the most discussed young players in Italian football. He provided the assist for Federico Bonazzoli’s opening goal, putting Cremonese ahead against the skeleton Juventus squad.
Shortly before half-time — after attempting a left-footed shot — he fell awkwardly and remained on the ground. He managed, with considerable character, to complete the first half despite the wrist already causing him problems. At the interval he did not return, his wrist strapped, and headed directly to the J-Medical for the examinations that confirmed the fracture and made surgical intervention necessary.
The operation was arranged in full agreement between Cremonese and Juventus — the two clubs cooperating seamlessly around the welfare of a player who belongs contractually to one and is developing on loan at the other. Dr Pegoli’s intervention brings the tally of surgical procedures performed on Juventus-related players this season to a number that has long since ceased to feel like coincidence and now simply defines the medical reality of a group navigating the most injury-disrupted opening weeks in recent memory.
The Timeline — Uncertain, But the Context Is the Key
The 72-hour rest before further assessment is the standard post-surgical protocol for this type of fracture. The broader recovery timeline for a fractured wrist will depend on the specific nature of the injury and the speed of the bone’s healing response — information that the further assessments will begin to clarify. For a player whose loan to Cremonese carries no purchase option and whose return to Juventus is planned for the summer of 2027, the priority is his long-term development rather than any short-term competitive calendar. Cremonese, chasing promotion in Serie B, will hope the absence is measured in weeks rather than months. Juventus, whose Vialli Award winner has just been introduced to the Italian football public in the most compelling possible fashion, simply want him back healthy and ready to continue what was already becoming one of the season’s best individual development stories.
