Juventus were dealt a huge blow this week as Sami Khedira was ruled out for up to three months after undergoing surgery on his knee.
As confirmed by the club’s site, the German stalwart underwent the procedure on Wednesday and the recovery timeline offered by the Turin giants suggests that he could be out for three months, which will be a blow for Maurizio Sarri.
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The 32-year-old has made 17 appearances so far this season, and so to lose a key figure in midfield for a significant period of time will be a setback for the reigning Serie A champions as they look to compete on multiple fronts between now and the end of the campaign.
With that in mind though, Calciomercato report that it could push the Bianconeri into action in the transfer market in January, with three names put forward as a potential solution.
It’s suggested that should Emre Can be sold rather than emerge as an in-house solution for Sarri and Juventus, then the Italian giants could look at one of Ivan Rakitic, Leandro Paredes or Sandro Tonali.
It’s debatable as to whether or not it would be possible to prise those names away midway through the season rather than the summer, especially Tonali who remains a pivotal figure for Brescia in their bid to avoid an immediate return to Serie B.
In turn, time will tell just how successful Juventus are if they do indeed launch a bid for the names above, although perhaps with Rakitic’s lack of playing time so far this season in mind as he has fallen down the pecking order at Barcelona, the Croatian stalwart could be an ideal fix to the problem.
The 31-year-old would bring experience and quality to the table, and would perhaps be as close to a like-for-like replacement for Khedira as possible.