Khéphren Thuram will travel to Lyon within the next few hours and go under the knife tomorrow — operated on by Bertrand Sonnery-Cottet, the specialist who previously performed surgery on both Gleison Bremer (cruciate and meniscus) and Federico Gatti (meniscus). His father Lilian Thuram, always closely involved in the lives of both his sons — Khéphren and Inter’s Marcus — has been following every detail of the preparations. The decision, taken yesterday after consulting Sonnery-Cottet, other medical specialists, and the family, is final. Surgery it is.
The Injury — and the Decision That Was Delayed Too Long
Sonnery-Cottet examined Thuram on Monday and recommended the operation to bring an end to a physical ordeal — patellofemoral syndrome — that began in the final weeks of last season and has never fully resolved despite months of conservative treatment and an entire summer spent on the margins of the squad.
The procedure will address what is technically known as chondropathy of the patella — in essence, wear on the cartilage covering the posterior surface of the kneecap. The surgery is performed arthroscopically. It is nevertheless a knee operation, with all the recovery time that implies.
Spalletti, who had not hidden his concern in recent days, will now need to wait at least four months before seeing his midfielder back on a competitive pitch. The translation is stark: Thuram’s 2026 is already over. He will not return until 2027.
A Blow That Has Been Coming for Months
This is not the sudden lightning strike that was Yıldız’s foot fracture at Frosinone. It is, rather, the inevitable conclusion of a situation that has been building since last spring. Thuram has been either partially available or entirely sidelined for months. He missed every pre-season friendly, made the bench for the opening day at Frosinone, and pulled up again before the Parma match. The decision to explore the surgical route with Sonnery-Cottet was taken at that point — and his verdict, delivered on Monday, was unequivocal.
The absence will be compensated, at least in part, by the arrival of Pape Matar Sarr — the last-minute midfield reinforcement from Tottenham. Sarr, however, is unlikely to be available immediately: La Gazzetta dello Sport notes that he was dealing with a muscular problem in the final weeks at Spurs, which meant he had barely trained with De Zerbi’s squad in the period before his move to Turin.
Three Long-Term Absentees as September Begins
The full picture of Juventus’s injury crisis as the new season truly gets under way is deeply uncomfortable. Three players who would otherwise be significant first-team contributors will miss extended periods of the campaign.
Yıldız underwent successful surgery on his fractured fifth metatarsal at the Augsburg Hessingpark Klinik on Monday. If everything proceeds as planned, the Turkish number ten should return after approximately ninety days — with the November international break the target for his reintegration.
Ekhator, who suffered his second muscle injury of the pre-season during Sunday morning’s training session at the Continassa — in front of approximately 300 supporters — faces an absence of at least 45 to 50 days. It is his second stop in less than two months: the original hamstring problem struck on 18 July in the Basilea friendly, and he had barely recovered sufficiently to make the Parma bench before sustaining a new thigh injury less than 24 hours later. For a 20-year-old signed from Genoa for €18 million and yet to play a single competitive minute for the club, the accumulated misfortune is genuinely painful.
Thuram’s four-month absence is the longest and the most consequential of the three. Juventus, who began their summer with the ambition of building a squad capable of returning to the Champions League, must now navigate the opening months of the season without three players who were central to that ambition — and the first Milan match at the Allianz Stadium, already approaching on Sunday evening, arrives in the most difficult possible circumstances.
