Juventus: Desperate over the 'chronic illness' in midfield

In this transfer period, Juventus has reinforced their forward line, shored up their backline, and secured a new goalkeeper, but none of these moves might help their goal of getting back into the Serie A top four if the midfield stays the same.

Last week, when striker Arkadiusz Milik scored in a 2-0 friendly win over Palermo, those who don't closely follow Juventus must have been startled to ask: Oh, is he still here? The Polish striker has been virtually "missing" for the past two seasons due to injury, and this goal was his first in over 800 days.

The "cursed" midfield

But there is one person who even shocks Juventus fans when they see him on the Continassa training ground: Arthur Melo. This Brazilian midfielder, who arrived from Barcelona in 2020 for a total cost of €70 million, has been "lost" since the 2022-23 season through successive loan deals, but each summer he returns to become a desperate nightmare. Every year, Juventus wants to sell Melo, but no one buys him. The only solution is to loan him out, with Juventus covering part of his salary. That means they have to pay just to have their own player leave the club for a while.

The painful part is that Melo is not alone. Juventus is gritting their teeth and enduring two more such players in midfield: Douglas Luiz and Teun Koopmeiners. They arrived as stars, each costing Juventus €55 million two years ago, but both have failed miserably and become major obstacles. Luiz was loaned to Nottingham Forest and then Aston Villa last season, while Koopmeiners was kept to try under three different Juventus coaches, but the common thread is that they showed nothing. Now, selling them is impossible, and even loaning them out is difficult due to high wages.

And so Juventus is stuck in a disaster of their own making. Unable to offload these surplus players, the "Old Lady" has no way to improve a midfield that has too many issues to resolve.

Desperate due to a "chronic disease"

For years, the lack of a strong enough midfield has been considered the biggest reason for Juventus's decline in the post-dominance era. Every year, they add highly anticipated names to the midfield, only to end up shaking their heads in disappointment. Juventus's midfield not only lacks creativity, mobility, physical strength, and battling ability, but also doesn't have a single person worthy of being a leader. That person would need to be not only skilled in the game, able to regulate play and direct defense, but also possess leadership qualities and a voice in the dressing room.

There is no one like that. Captain Manuel Locatelli only plays at an average level, not enough to make an impact. Khephren Thuram has good games and bad games. Only Weston McKennie meets expectations, especially excelling since coach Luciano Spalletti took over in November 2025, but he is only good at attacking and scoring. The fighting spirit of Juventus's midfield is insufficient to win big matches, while the lack of creativity and poor finishing often cause them trouble against defensive opponents.

This year, the situation might be even worse for Juventus as they haven't bought anyone to overhaul a midfield full of "ghosts." Franck Kessie has been a long-term target, available for free after his contract with Al-Hilal ended, but they still have to wait until Juve frees up both a squad spot and wage budget. The only new signing considered a midfielder so far is Kerim Alajbegovic, but he is actually an attacking player under 20 years old, while in this position they already have Edon Zegrova, Francisco Conceicao, and Nico Gonzalez (also a "debt" they can't offload). In other words, Juve reinforced where they are not lacking, while the area that needs addressing has been ignored.

With the current midfield, Juventus's ability to push forward this season will be questioned, even though they have significantly upgraded other positions in the squad. With less than two weeks before the market closes, will there be any miraculous change to improve the situation?