Juventus midfielder Manuel Locatelli has been sidelined since 13 September 2026 with a knee injury, missing the Bianconeri's last two Serie A fixtures and leaving Luciano Spalletti's midfield to reorganise around a gap that the 28-year-old's early-season form had made conspicuous by its presence.
The timing is uncomfortable. Juventus sit seventh in Serie A with ten points from five matches — three wins, a draw, and a defeat — a position that reflects a team still finding its shape under Spalletti rather than one that has settled into a rhythm. Locatelli had started three of those five matches before the injury intervened, contributing an assist and averaging a rating of 7.27 across those appearances. That figure, modest in isolation, carries more weight when you consider what his absence removes: a midfielder whose AI overall of 80 out of 100 marks him as one of the more complete operators in the squad, and whose role as a positional anchor is not easily replicated from the bench.
The club is using the international break to work through what has become a crowded medical room. Locatelli is not the only absentee, and the sosta offers recovery time that the fixture calendar would not otherwise permit. Our estimate, based on the nature of the knee injury, places his return around 25 October — though no official date has been confirmed, and knee injuries have a habit of resisting timetables.
The broader context makes his return more than a squad-depth question. CEO Giovanni Carnevali has described the club's failure to qualify for the Champions League as "a bloodbath," and Juventus have confirmed a €66 million loss for the year ending June 2026, offset partially by a €42 million reduction in operating costs. A club in financial reconstruction cannot afford prolonged absences from its senior, committed players — and Locatelli, who turned down Arsenal to stay, is precisely that kind of player.
Spalletti's Juventus need him back fit and sharp. The standings are recoverable; the margin for further disruption is not.