Juventus: 3 players whose role could increase through the season

Juventus have played just two games of the 2020-2021 Serie A season thus far, but here’s an early look at which players could be in line for a bigger role.

The young Juventus players are already getting a good run with the first team in 2020-2021. Schalke loanee Weston McKennie has started twice for the Bianconeri. Dejan Kulusevski, fresh off his loan at Parma, is already important to Andrea Pirlo’s attack.

Here are three more players who could be in line for more minutes as the season continues.

Juventus CB Merih Demiral

Merih Demiral returned from his injury this summer, which cut an incredibly promising 2019-2020 season short. In fact, before Matthijs de Ligt’s improvements during the final stretch of the campaign, Demiral looked like Juve’s best center back. He is another young gem who stands among Europe’s best young defenders.

It has been disappointing for fans to see Demiral on the bench, because he is already a better player than Leonardo Bonucci, looking at the mistakes the veteran center back has been making. Demiral has some work to do as a passer in comparison to Bonucci, of course, which changes the dynamic in the back three.

Still, with Giorgio Chiellini possibly now injured, Demiral becomes that much more important. De Ligt is still recovering from his own injury.

No matter what, Demiral is talented, and his talent will shine through.

Juventus CM Arthur Melo

Patience with Arthur Melo is key. He will not be a world-beater in the center of the park for Juventus immediately. The ex-Barcelona man will need time before he is at his best with the Bianconeri, as he must build familiarity with his teammates, such as Rodrigo Bentancur and Adrien Rabiot. Together, they should form the strongest midfield three for Andrea Pirlo.

Arthur came off the bench for his debut against Roma, looking spry on the ball and cool with his passing, completing 93.1 percent of his attempts, as per WhoScored.com.

After this month, Arthur should be undroppable. He is the future star of the Juventus midfield and has quality like nobody else in the center of the park.

Juventus DM Rodrigo Bentancur

Another Juventus midfielder who hasn’t played frequently to start the season, Rodrigo Bentancur is another young jewel in Turin. The Bianconeri have made it clear that they are not selling the hard-working 23-year-old, whose assists and defensive qualities as a box-to-box midfielder helped the club win their ninth straight Scudetto last season.

While Bentancur has appeared in both of Juve’s games to start the campaign, he has only featured in 34 minutes, deprioritized to McKennie.

That will change shortly. McKennie is a good player with arguably more potential than Bentancur, particularly in attacking contributions. But Bentancur is an important glue guy whose athleticism enables him to recover possession frequently for Juve. His importance to Pirlo will become clearer in the coming months.