All summer we worried about the status of Kenan Yildiz’s lingering knee issue that may or may not have been present during his (short) time with Turkiye at the World Cup. We didn’t truly know what state of fitness he was arriving back at Continassa at, with worries about his availability early in the preseason tour a relative unknown as well.
Turns out Yildiz quickly returned to training with the squad and played a good amount of minutes on the tour. Things appeared to be OK, and that was a quite
refreshing sight.
Now we have a different Yildiz to worry about — and one that could keep him out for a bit of time.
According multiple reports out of Italy on Monday, Yildiz made a visit to J Medical during the morning hours to have what is being described as some sort of injury to his left foot. Sky Sport Italia says that there is “serious concern” coming out of the Juventus camp that Yildiz will miss a good amount of time because of the injury he suffered during Sunday’s season-opening win over Frosinone. Both Sky Italia and La Gazzetta dello Sport report that surgery is a definite possibility for Yildiz, who would miss around two months if he were have to go under the knife.
Again, this has nothing related to his knee issue from the spring. This something new, and it is not what Juventus needed right now as they try and avoid another horrid start to a Serie A campaign.
If Yildiz is to undergo surgery relatively soon, that means he would be out until November. While there is an extended September international break this season, that’s still a good amount of the schedule to miss — especially with the start of the Europa League league phase being thrown in there as well.
While losing Yildiz would be a huge blow, there is at least options on the left that could step in. The left wing is where Kerim Alajbegović has mostly operated for club and country before signing with Juventus. We know that Jérémie Boga was signed as a direct backup for Yildiz during the winter transfer window as well.
But that still doesn’t mean it’s a good thing to have your most talented player come up with. an injury right out of the gate. At least there’s a reason now as to why Yildiz’s performance against Frosinone was rather subdued on Sunday evening.
