Juventus to make a drastic decision over the international break?

Juventus don’t want to lose any key players after the international break to COVID-19 or injury.

The travel involved over the international break has heightened the risk of players contracting COVID-19, and the supposed “benefits” are them playing for their countries in a host of meaningless friendlies and UEFA Nations League matches. And Juventus wants no part of it.

Over the last international break in October, Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo tested positive for COVID-19 and ended up having to miss a huge Champions League match against Barcelona and arch rival Lionel Messi.

According to a report from Corriere dello Sport, via Football-Italia.net, Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli is considering banning national teams from using the Bianconeri’s players during the November international break because of the heightened risk of them contracting COVID-19. (United States star Weston McKennie also had a positive test a couple of weeks ago.)

Agnelli isn’t alone. Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis is also considering preventing his players from being used during the international break.

Juventus chairman Andrea Agnelli has a lot of sway to pull his players from their national teams

It would be a huge move for Juve and Napoli to do this. These are huge clubs with a lot of star players, including, of course, Ronaldo, who is the most well-known footballer in the world. The impact of Juve saying that players like Wojciech Szczesny, Leonardo Bonucci, Alvaro Morata, Ronaldo, and more can’t play over the international break would be huge.

Juventini will keep a close eye out on Agnelli and De Laurentiis to see if they actually go ahead with this plan next week. Agnelli and De Laurentiis are powerful, headstrong leaders of two of Serie A’s biggest clubs, so if anyone could make this move, it would be them. And perhaps other clubs in Italy and around Europe would follow, putting the sport in an interesting situation.

But that’s all speculation. For now, Juventus will focus on Sunday afternoon’s big game at the Stadio Olimpico against Lazio, who should have star players like Ciro Immobile back after their own COVID-19 cases.