Juventus: what has become of Adzic? Now out of the squad rotation, a transfer is on the cards, but without the risks associated with Huijsen

But let’s take it step by step, because the start of the season had been promising, with that last-gasp goal that had allowed Juve to beat Inter 4–3 in the Derby d’Italia during the first half of the season. With Igor Tudor in charge at that stage of the season, Adzic had found his place in the team and been given playing time against Verona and Atalanta in the league, as well as against Dortmund and Villarreal in the Champions League. Then, as results began to falter, the Croatian manager left him out of his last four matches in Turin. And so did Brambilla during his interim spell, which coincided with the match against Udinese.

Under Luciano Spalletti, Adzic has had mixed fortunes. After an initial spell with limited but fairly regular playing time (Cremonese and Torino in the league, Sporting, Bodo and Pafos in the Champions League), the number 17 spent six consecutive Serie A matches on the bench without playing a single minute (Fiorentina, Cagliari, Napoli, Bologna, Roma and Pisa), alternating between appearances and the bench in the Champions League (Benfica and the first leg against Galatasaray on the bench, Monaco and the return leg against the Turks on the pitch).

The next phase then saw his playing time increase slightly, with minutes on the pitch against Lecce, Sassuolo, Cremonese and Cagliari in the league, before he faded into obscurity. 

In the last eight league matches, Adzic has played just seven minutes – in the heavy home defeat to Como – spending the full 90 minutes on the bench against Napoli, Parma, Lazio, Inter, Roma, Pisa and Udinese. This period coincided with the moment when Spalletti, following an initial phase of experimentation and changes, settled on his players and his starting line-up. And the first substitutes, among whom Jeremie Boga now stands out above all, followed by Teun Koopmeiners and Fabio Miretti. In this context, Adzic (17 appearances in total this season, 348 minutes on the pitch and 1 goal) has completely disappeared from the rotation.

Spalletti values Adzic’s technical ability and, back in January, publicly ruled him out of the transfer market in no uncertain terms: “Adzic is off limits; he has an incredible shot and exceptional technical skills – he’s a hidden gem.” What Spalletti likes least are the Montenegrin’s lapses in concentration from a tactical point of view and a certain carelessness in handling (and losing) the ball in key areas of the pitch. This is the result of inattention and, of course, inexperience, because let’s not forget that Adzic is not yet 20 (he turns 20 on 12 May).

For these reasons, it cannot be ruled out that Juventus might decide to send the player out on loan for next season, to help him develop and gain regular playing time. This is something that, incidentally, his famous compatriot and president of the Montenegrin Football Association, Dejan Savicevic, had already advised him to do this year. A permanent transfer, however, is out of the question, unless Adzic insists on it (and there are no signs of that at the moment). Juve want to avoid any repeat of the Huijsen situation at all costs: Adzic is a technical asset in whom the club and the manager believe; he simply needs to develop. 

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