Juventus’s pre-season preparations are being complicated by two significant injury concerns at the worst possible moment. With the squad scheduled to depart for the Asian pre-season tour on Sunday 2 August — taking in matches against Chelsea in Hong Kong and Inter in Perth — both Kenan Yıldız and Khéphren Thuram are working apart from the main group and their participation in the tour is genuinely uncertain.
Yıldız: A Long-Term View That Sacrifices Short-Term Preparation
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, Yıldız’s management tells the story of the entire Juventus strategy around their most precious asset. He is not simply the number ten of this Juventus — he is the player around whom the club intends to build both the present and the future. Every decision is therefore taken with the long term in mind, not the immediate needs of pre-season preparation. Missing an amichevole or even the Asian tour is considered preferable to risking a setback during what will be a demanding season on multiple fronts.
The Turkish international has been back at the Continassa since around 20 July following Turkey’s World Cup elimination, working on a personalised recovery programme for the patellar tendinopathy that has troubled him for months. He is described as smiling and relaxed — aware of the medical situation, willing to be patient, and focused on being fully fit for the competitive season rather than forcing his way into pre-season friendlies.
Thuram: A More Worrying Picture
Of the two, Thuram’s situation is the more concerning. The French midfielder returned from his summer break still carrying the patellofemoral syndrome that emerged in the final weeks of last season — the holiday period having done relatively little to resolve an inflammation that requires careful, extended management. He has been working exclusively on a personalised programme of gym sessions, pool work, and carefully monitored pitch activity, with the medical staff applying the utmost caution to avoid any risk of a setback that would extend his absence further.
The concrete possibility exists that Thuram will not travel to Asia at all. A final decision on his inclusion will be taken as close as possible to the departure date of Sunday 2 August — but the direction of travel is clear, and the club will not gamble with a midfielder whose situation in the transfer market is also live, with several Premier League clubs monitoring his availability at the €40 million price Juventus have set.
Spalletti’s Dilemma — Building Momentum Without His Best Players
The cumulative effect of both absences — added to Ekhator’s hamstring injury, the ongoing uncertainty over incoming signings, and the broader squad incompleteness — means Spalletti faces the opening weeks of his first full pre-season at Juventus in genuinely difficult circumstances. The Friday friendly against Nizza at the Continassa on 31 July will once again be contested without several key players, and the Asian tour itself risks beginning before the squad’s identity and hierarchy is properly established.
That Juventus’s hierarchy is taking the long view on Yıldız — accepting short-term disruption to protect his long-term health — is the right decision. But it places an additional burden on a summer that was already requiring exceptional patience from a manager who, by his own admission, has spent the past fifty days living with a persistent sense of discomfort.
