Just when Thiago Motta thought he could begin piecing together his project in peace, the football gods have thrown a spanner in the works. Juventus ar...
Just when Thiago Motta thought he could begin piecing together his project in peace, the football gods have thrown a spanner in the works. Juventus are facing their first real headache of the summer after new signing Jeff Ekhator limped off the pitch during his pre season debut. For a club that has spent the last eighteen months trying to scrub the stain of injury chaos from its identity, this is the last thing they needed to see.The young forward, brought in to add some raw energy and a direct threat to a frontline that often looked too pedestrian last term, lasted barely a half before the physios came calling. You could see it in his body language as he walked down the tunnel: the frustration, the quiet curse. It is a cruel irony that a player brought in to solve a lack of explosiveness is now himself a question mark. Pre season is supposed to be about fitness, about building a base. Now Motta has to wonder whether Ekhator will be fit enough to even feature in the opening weeks of the campaign.Look, we all know the script with Juventus and muscle injuries. It is not just bad luck anymore; it is a systemic issue that has plagued the club for seasons. Every time they get a forward who looks sharp in training, there is a quiet dread that he will be sidelined before he can find his rhythm. The club's medical staff will be under intense scrutiny now. A summer signing pulling up on his first outing raises questions about the pre season load management and whether the intensity of the work was misjudged. One dropped bollock and suddenly the entire fitness regime is under the microscope.For the fans, this is a bitter pill. They are desperate for something new, for a spark. Ekhator was supposed to be raw but thrilling, a player who could run in behind and cause panic in a low block. If he is nursing a strain for the next three weeks, that plan is effectively on ice. It forces Motta to go back to the familiar faces, the ones who have consistently failed to deliver clinical finishing when it mattered. That is not a recipe for optimism. The medical bulletin that arrives in the next 48 hours could well set the tone for the entire month of August. Squeaky bum time starts earlier than usual in Turin.
