Juventus have officially confirmed that Merih Demiral’s knee surgery was a success, but he will now be sidelined for up to seven months.
The 21-year-old joined the Turin giants last summer and had found it difficult to break into Maurizio Sarri’s starting line-up.
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Having made his seventh appearance of the season in the win over Roma at the weekend, his night turned sour as after giving Juventus the lead, he was later taken off with a serious injury.
It was soon confirmed by the reigning Serie A champions that he had sustained ACL damage, and now as per the club’s official statement, he underwent surgery on Tuesday in Innsbruck to address the issue.
On one hand, all concerned will be delighted that the surgery was a success and it’s hoped that Demiral can make a comeback without any complications or setbacks, but the statement goes on to add that he’s expected to be ruled out of action for up to seven months.
That in turn will see him miss the rest of this season, EURO 2020 this summer with Turkey and potentially complicate his pre-season as he will likely head into the next campaign still well short of match fitness and stepping up the levels of his rehabilitation.
With that in mind, it’s a blow for Demiral and his club and country, but the most important thing for now is that the operation went as planned, and he can now focus on making a full and swift recovery.
Sarri still has plenty of quality and depth in that department as Juventus continue to try and defend their Serie A crown and compete for other major trophies this season.
Leonardo Bonucci and Matthijs de Ligt will likely be the first-choice pairing moving forward, while Daniele Rugani is available to offer cover and stalwart Giorgio Chiellini will hope to return from an injury blow of his own in the coming weeks.