Juventus, the Italians have disappeared: how they went from 70% to 20%, with transfer-market choices and injuries the project is collapsing

Juventus v Parma 4-1, 2011-12 season

Buffon, Lichtsteiner, Barzagli, Chiellini, De Ceglie; Marchisio, Pirlo; Pepe (71' Krasic), Matri (53' Vucinic), Del Piero (68' Vidal), Giaccherini. Manager: Conte

Juventus v Parma 2-0, 2026-27 season

Vicario; Kalulu, Bremer, Lucumí (75' Kelly), Celik; Locatelli, Douglas Luiz; Conceiçao (75' Cambiaso, 86' Koopmeiners), David (57' Gonzalez), Boga (57' Alajbegovic 6); Kolo Muani. Manager: Spalletti

The stat that jumps out straight away, apart from the clearly greater number of champions in the 2011-12 Juventus side than the current one, is the number of Italians in Conte's team compared to Spalletti's: 10 out of 14 for Juve in 2011-12 (71%), 3 out of 15 for Juve in 2026-27 (20%).

Back in June, Carnevali's message seemed clear, underlined by the signing of Jeff Ekhator from Genoa: strengthen the Italian core of the squad. A few months on, though, the picture has changed completely. So much so that on Sunday evening at the Mapei Stadium against Sassuolo, Luciano Spalletti could field a Juventus side with 10 foreign starters and just one Italian, Guglielmo Vicario, in goal.

Injuries have driven that turnaround more than anything. The long absence of Manuel Locatelli, ruled out for around six months, has robbed Spalletti of his main Italian reference point in midfield. Then there is Andrea Cambiaso, who is still struggling with ankle problems. Ekhator is also unavailable for at least a month and a half.

The transfer market has further thinned Juventus' Italian core: Fabio Miretti, Mattia Perin and Michele Di Gregorio have left Continassa, with the latter replaced by Vicario. That leaves Federico Gatti, Daniele Rugani and Next Gen youngsters Augusto Owusu and Filippo Pagnucco, but none of them, barring surprises, should start against Sassuolo.

That statistic still carries weight for a club who have historically been the national team's main reservoir, and whose 'blocks' have played a decisive part in the Azzurri's successes. The last Juventus side to start with ten foreigners and only one Italian dates back to the derby against Torino on 28 February 2023, when Nicolò Fagioli was the only Italy international in the starting line-up. An exceptional situation: in Juventus' history, they have never started a match without a single Italian in the starting XI.