Khephren Thuram Faces Knee Surgery Decision for Juventus

Khephren Thuram’s Juventus season is on hold before it has even started.

The French midfielder has been left out of the squad for this evening’s Serie A match against Parma at the Allianz Stadium, with the club waiting on a crucial medical verdict next week that will determine whether he needs knee surgery.

Thuram has been struggling with patellofemoral syndrome since the end of last season, a condition that has refused to settle despite a cautious approach over the summer. He spent much of pre-season working away from the main group and was already absent for Juve’s opening league game against Frosinone last week.

Now the absence is stretching into something more worrying.

According to Sky Sport and Gazzetta, Thuram is set to fly to France next week for a consultation with renowned knee specialist Bertrand Sonnery Cottet. The Lyon-based surgeon is well known to Juventus: he previously operated on Gleison Bremer for cruciate ligament and meniscus damage and on Federico Gatti for a meniscus problem in recent years.

The outcome of that visit will decide whether Thuram goes under the knife or continues with conservative treatment. A surgical route would almost certainly rule him out for a significant spell and force Luciano Spalletti to rethink his midfield plans for the first half of the campaign.

Spalletti has already allowed his concern to show. Speaking on Friday, the Juventus coach admitted he was “very worried” about Thuram’s condition, a stark message at the very start of a long season.

For now, Juventus go into another league game without a player signed to be a key figure between the lines. The real battle, though, will be fought in a specialist’s office in France next week, where Thuram’s year could be redrawn in a single decision.