Juventus winger Marko Pjaca out another two or three weeks due to ‘significant swelling’ in left fibula

When Marko Pjaca had to return early from international duty, we were relieved that the original diagnosis was nowhere near what was actually wrong with him. Instead of months on the sideline rehabbing what was originally reported — and feared by many — as a broken left leg, it looked as though Pjaca would miss a couple of weeks and then that would be that.

I guess we’re going to have to wait a few more weeks.

Just a short time before Wednesday night’s 4-1 win over Sampdoria, Juventus announced that Pjaca will be out until the international break due to “significant swelling” in his left leg. The injury, which initially happened at the start of the last international break, has kept the young Croatian on the sideline ever since he came back to Turin and had the possibility of a broken leg ruled out at the beginning of the month.

The official injury update, courtesy of Juventus’ website:

Medical tests on Marko Pjaca this morning have confirmed that the Croatian forward will remain on the sidelines for between two to three weeks, having sustained an injury to his left fibula earlier in the month.

Today's examinations revealed significant swelling of the area around the bone and the player's condition will continue to be monitored in the coming days with further inspections scheduled throughout the week.

With Paulo Dybala also out injured until the international break at the very least, the timing of Pjaca’s injury couldn’t be any worse. Until the next international break arrives following Juventus’ trip to Verona to face Chievo on Sunday, Nov. 6, Max Allegri will be left with only two healthy senior squad strikers, Gonzalo Higuain and Mario Mandzukic. As we saw against Sampdoria, that didn’t necessarily cut down on all of Allegri’s tactical options, but for the foreseeable future only 16-year-old primavera product Moise Kean is the only natural striker available to Juve’s third-year manager.

Please get healthy son, Marko. I miss seeing you trying to break opposing defenders’ ankles when you come on for your 10-minute cameos. And who knows, maybe there will be a handful of starts in your future, too. I sure hope there is.