Motta considers another Juventus debut as injuries limit midfield options
Juventus’ injuries are leaving coach Thiago Motta with limited options in midfield, paving the way for the debut of yet another young talent in the upcoming Serie A clash against Lazio
After returning from the international break, Nicolò Fagioli didn’t train with the rest of the Bianconeri group and remains in doubt for the Old Lady’s home fixture against Marco Baroni’s side on Saturday.
With Theun Koopmeiners and Weston McKennie already sure of being ruled out of the game, Fagioli’s absence would leave Motta with only three midfield options available, but given his penchant for relying on the club’s youngsters, he’d be reportedly open to giving a chance to another gem who has been impressing despite his age.
Thiago Motta considers giving Adzic Juventus debut after midfield injuries
According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, 18-year-old Vasilije Adzic could make his debut with Juventus next Saturday when the Bianconeri will take on Lazio at the Allianz Stadium after Thiago Motta was deprived of three midfielders due to injury.
The Montenegro talent joined the club this summer and, while he was initially meant to play for Juventus Next Gen in Serie C, he impressed his manager during the pre-season to earn a spot in the first team.
After surprisingly giving chances to youngsters Samuel Mbangula and Nicolò Savona earlier this season, Motta is now reportedly considering fielding Adzic behind Dusan Vlahovic, as Manuel Locatelli, Douglas Luiz and Kephren Thuram are the only midfield options at his disposal for the match against the Biancocelesti.
Three Italy internationals who were not part of Luciano Spalletti’s squad for the wins over Israel and France over the last week are expected to return to the Azzurri squad for Nations League matches against Belgium and Israel again in October.
Three Italy players expected to return in October
Inter midfielder Nicolo Barella was not called up this time around due to a pre-arranged operation on his nose, which has since been successfully completed. He is effectively a guaranteed starter for Italy in big matches, so he will return to the group assuming he is fit next month.
Spalletti also confirmed that he wanted to bring Federico Chiesa with him for this month’s round of internationals, but couldn’t due to his personalised training programme with his new club Liverpool. TMW confirm that he will also return in October if he is available.
