Welcome to 2026, everybody. How\u2019s it been so far? Fun? Exciting? Maybe kinda boring? All of those are acceptable answers. Considering that we just had as Juventus supporters, a little more of a low-key start to the new year is sounding pretty good right about now.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
But with the new year comes new things \u2026 maybe.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
For Juventus, it feels pretty simple: be who you were in the last few weeks of 2025 rather than the first few months of the year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
That is the hope, of course, as we begin the new year with Juve being in a tightly packed top five in the Serie A standings. With Luciano Spalletti now building some momentum after taking over for Igor Tudor in the final days of October, we hit January with some good vibes and some optimism about where the 66-year-old Tuscan is taking this squad after a turbulent first 10 months of 2025 that saw a pair of managerial changes.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Spalletti has brought some calm. He\u2019s brought some steadiness. He\u2019s also brought some really good quotes at his pre- and post-match press conferences.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
So as we begin this new year, let\u2019s do something completely appropriate for the first day of January: throw out some New Year\u2019s resolutions for some of Juventus best and most important players.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
For Gleison Bremer: just stay healthy<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nSeems pretty simple, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nIn 2024, Bremer was forced to miss much of the season due to a torn ACL in his knee. Nearly 12 months later, Bremer was forced to miss over two months due to meniscus surgery in that same knee. Just when it looked like the big Brazilian center back was going to be back to his impressive best, he was forced off the field with another knee issue that clearly played a role in the trajectory of the early months of the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nBremer, thankfully, is back in the fold and is coming off an appearance in Juventus\u2019 win over Pisa in which he played the entire 90 minutes and looked rather spry doing so. The thing is now to just keep it going.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nConsidering what Juve\u2019s defense has been with and without Bremer the last 18 months, it\u2019s pretty easy to know just what a difference arguably the best center back in Serie A makes a massive difference when he\u2019s in the lineup. Without him, Juventus\u2019 defense is just an ordinary kind of unit. With him, though, their floor is just so much higher than when he\u2019s missing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nIt\u2019s just about keeping him healthy, keeping him fit during a time when the schedule is going to get busy again shortly and Spalletti figuring out a way to make sure his best defender by a wide margin can consistently be available without pushing it over the edge and risking even more extended periods out of action.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nBecause let\u2019s face it, folks: If you\u2019re an opposing attacker, is the man pictured below somebody you really want to see staring you down a few yards away?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nTURIN, ITALY – DECEMBER 20: Gleison Bremer of Juventus reacts during the Serie A match between Juventus FC and AS Roma at Juventus Stadium on December 20, 2025 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Daniele Badolato – Juventus FC\/Juventus FC via Getty Images)<\/figcaption>Juventus FC via Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nYeah, that\u2019s gotta be a thing nobody wants to see shouting in their direction. Don\u2019t let the finely-tuned line up with his hair or the good looks fool you. That is a bad man, and he wants to try and prevent you from doing anything good if you\u2019re on the opposing team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nAnd when he\u2019s healthy, that is something he does quite often, if not the vast majority of the time. Now it\u2019s just about keeping him healthy and allowing one of the most important players at Juventus to play regularly again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nFor Kenan Yildiz: just keep being you<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nThere has been no one singular thing that has been more enjoyable over the last 12 months than to see Yildiz continue to be the shooting star that everybody thought he might truly be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nYildiz\u2019s 2025 looked a little bit like this:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n- 18 goals<\/span><\/li>\n
- 10 assists<\/span><\/li>\n
- Fifth-place finish in the Kopa Trophy voting<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\n
And who\u2019s to say that 2026 is going to be any different?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nOr, maybe it\u2019s better phrased like this: Who\u2019s to say that 2026 isn\u2019t go to be even better<\/em> than his 2025?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nYes, Yildiz\u2019s importance to this Juventus squad only seems to get bigger and bigger by the week these days. You need to look no further than how he closed the calendar year, making goal contribution after goal contribution during Juventus\u2019 back-to-back-to-back wins to close out December. It may not be logical to expect him to continue on that kind of pace because your head tells you that\u2019s just not how this game usually works, but this is a 20-year-old player who is only getting better as time goes on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nPlus, you throw Spalletti\u2019s impact on Yildiz\u2019s game into the mix, and you\u2019re sitting there rubbing your hands together like Birdman<\/a> because you just can\u2019t help but think about how good this young man can be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nIt truly feels like the sky is the limit for Yildiz, who won\u2019t turn 21 until May. Where he takes his own form and this Juventus squad over the course of these next few months remain to be seen. But it sure does feel like it will be quite enjoyable watching him only continue his trajectory toward stardom as the second half of the 2025-26 season arrives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n![\"TURIN,](\"https:\/\/platform.blackwhitereadallover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2026\/01\/gettyimages-2249050139.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400\"\/)
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nTURIN, ITALY – NOVEMBER 29: Kenan Yildiz of Juventus celebrates after scoring his team\u2019s second goal during the Serie A match between Juventus FC and Cagliari Calcio at Juventus Stadium on November 29, 2025 in Turin, Italy. (Photo by Juventus FC\/Juventus FC via Getty Images)<\/figcaption>Juventus FC via Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nOh, and get the contract extension done, Juventus. I can speak for everybody here: We don\u2019t want a January transfer window that is full of rumors about Kenan maybe or maybe not being tempted by the Premier League. Just sign him to the new deal, get it across the finish line and let him cook some more. That\u2019s all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nFor Pierre Kalulu: just get some rest<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nAt this point last season it felt like Kalulu had played just about every possible minute there had been \u2014 and mostly out of necessity because of the depth crunch that Juve dealt with for much of early months of the 2024-25 campaign.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nSo far this year, that\u2019s actually the case.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nKalulu goes into the new year having played every single second of all 24 games Juventus have played so far this season. As we know, a lot of those starts have come on very short rest with how compact the schedule can be in between each of the international breaks. But that hasn\u2019t stopped Kalulu from being the one constant presence in a starting defense that has seen plenty of other players be in and out of the lineup due to injury.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nPlus, let\u2019s not forget, he start this season playing as a wingback before Spalletti arrived. That is a thing that actually happened, people! And for a good amount of games, too!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nBut now that Kalulu is back in the three-man defense that Spalletti has kept in place, he just looks to be much more comfortable and back to playing at the level that he was for much of last season when he was one of Juventus\u2019 best players. (You know, the kind of form that made the buy option look like a mortal lock to be picked up.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nAt some point \u2014 especially with a busy January ahead \u2014 you expect Kalulu to get some rest and take a game off. But until then, he\u2019s just going to go out there and keep being as steady as can be. After him being like that for his first 18 months at Juventus, there\u2019s no reason to think it won\u2019t keep being the case no matter how many minutes he has logged this season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nFor Khephren Thuram: rediscover the player we saw much of last season<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nAs the number of days before the 2025-26 season began got smaller and smaller, I couldn\u2019t help but get pretty excited about the potential of Thuram\u2019s second year in Turin and how much better it could be compared to the first.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nThe reality of what has actually played out compared to my hopes haven\u2019t matched up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nBe it physical problems or just struggling in general, Thuram\u2019s form has not been the explosive kind of last season. While he\u2019s on pace to play around the same amount of minutes in Serie A as he did last season, Thuram only has one goal and one assist to his name through Juventus\u2019 first 17 league fixtures. After a debut season in Turin in which he had nine goal contributions, that is a follow-up number that is not exactly something to boast about.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nWe know Juventus\u2019 midfield is far from where it\u2019s been even at the start of the decade, but Thuram is easily the player in the group who has the highest ceiling. Now it\u2019s about trying to get back to showing just what kind of player he was last season because that version was really, really fun to watch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nFor Lo\u00efs Openda and Jonathan David: take full advantage of Dusan Vlahovic being out<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nWe probably won\u2019t be seeing the big Serbian striker for at least a couple more months, so that means there\u2019s going to be plenty of chances for Juve\u2019s two summer arrivals to get playing time. (Minus some sort of surprise January signing or the resurrection of Arek Milik now that he\u2019s healthy again.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nIt\u2019s about what Openda and David can do with those chances.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n\n\n\n\n![\"FLORENCE,](\"https:\/\/platform.blackwhitereadallover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/12\/gettyimages-2248190494.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0%2C0%2C100%2C100&w=2400\"\/)
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nFLORENCE, ITALY – NOVEMBER 22: Lois Openda of Juventus and Jonathan David of Juventus during the Serie A match between ACF Fiorentina and Juventus FC at Artemio Franchi on November 22, 2025 in Florence, Italy. (Photo by Image Photo Agency\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption>Getty Images<\/cite><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\nThere\u2019s been signs of life from both in recent weeks. How much of that is connected to the fact that they know they\u2019re not competing for minutes with Vlahovic for the next few months is unknown, but it definitely is not nothing. Openda had a very good game against Roma when Juve figured out how to use him best. David, for the struggles he still clearly shows, does have goals in Juve\u2019s last two Champions League fixtures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nOne of Spalletti\u2019s biggest tasks since he first showed up has been to get things a little more productive in attack. While we\u2019re probably still working to get to that point on a consistent basis, there\u2019s still plenty of room for things to improve with both Openda and David. The tricky thing is that they simply aren\u2019t the same kind of striker, so it\u2019s not like you can just plug and play and keep things pretty much the same with how you play. They have different strengths, different weaknesses, and have obviously struggled to shake off their early-season struggles when Spalletti was watching from his farm in Tuscany.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nBut hopefully as time without Vlahovic continues to go on during his injury absence they continue to find their footing because Juve need more than just Yildiz in attack right now. (Plus, playing without Vlahovic is something we all pretty much expected to be the case this season when the summer transfer window first began, so this could very well be a glimpse into how things might look going beyond the first half of 2026.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nFor Andrea Cambiaso: make 2026 more like 2024, not 2025<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nIn my book, there may not have been one more disappointing player than Cambiaso during the 2025 calendar year. We know the trend by now: he was playing some of his best ball of his career 12 months ago, injured his ankle around the same time Manchester City were thinking of a potential deal and then never truly recovered from the injury \u2014 and probably the move to the Premier League \u2014 the rest of the season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Seems pretty simple, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
In 2024, Bremer was forced to miss much of the season due to a torn ACL in his knee. Nearly 12 months later, Bremer was forced to miss over two months due to meniscus surgery in that same knee. Just when it looked like the big Brazilian center back was going to be back to his impressive best, he was forced off the field with another knee issue that clearly played a role in the trajectory of the early months of the 2025-26 season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Bremer, thankfully, is back in the fold and is coming off an appearance in Juventus\u2019 win over Pisa in which he played the entire 90 minutes and looked rather spry doing so. The thing is now to just keep it going.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Considering what Juve\u2019s defense has been with and without Bremer the last 18 months, it\u2019s pretty easy to know just what a difference arguably the best center back in Serie A makes a massive difference when he\u2019s in the lineup. Without him, Juventus\u2019 defense is just an ordinary kind of unit. With him, though, their floor is just so much higher than when he\u2019s missing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
It\u2019s just about keeping him healthy, keeping him fit during a time when the schedule is going to get busy again shortly and Spalletti figuring out a way to make sure his best defender by a wide margin can consistently be available without pushing it over the edge and risking even more extended periods out of action.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Because let\u2019s face it, folks: If you\u2019re an opposing attacker, is the man pictured below somebody you really want to see staring you down a few yards away?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Yeah, that\u2019s gotta be a thing nobody wants to see shouting in their direction. Don\u2019t let the finely-tuned line up with his hair or the good looks fool you. That is a bad man, and he wants to try and prevent you from doing anything good if you\u2019re on the opposing team.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And when he\u2019s healthy, that is something he does quite often, if not the vast majority of the time. Now it\u2019s just about keeping him healthy and allowing one of the most important players at Juventus to play regularly again.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There has been no one singular thing that has been more enjoyable over the last 12 months than to see Yildiz continue to be the shooting star that everybody thought he might truly be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Yildiz\u2019s 2025 looked a little bit like this:<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And who\u2019s to say that 2026 is going to be any different?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Or, maybe it\u2019s better phrased like this: Who\u2019s to say that 2026 isn\u2019t go to be even better<\/em> than his 2025?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Yes, Yildiz\u2019s importance to this Juventus squad only seems to get bigger and bigger by the week these days. You need to look no further than how he closed the calendar year, making goal contribution after goal contribution during Juventus\u2019 back-to-back-to-back wins to close out December. It may not be logical to expect him to continue on that kind of pace because your head tells you that\u2019s just not how this game usually works, but this is a 20-year-old player who is only getting better as time goes on.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Plus, you throw Spalletti\u2019s impact on Yildiz\u2019s game into the mix, and you\u2019re sitting there rubbing your hands together like Birdman<\/a> because you just can\u2019t help but think about how good this young man can be.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It truly feels like the sky is the limit for Yildiz, who won\u2019t turn 21 until May. Where he takes his own form and this Juventus squad over the course of these next few months remain to be seen. But it sure does feel like it will be quite enjoyable watching him only continue his trajectory toward stardom as the second half of the 2025-26 season arrives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Oh, and get the contract extension done, Juventus. I can speak for everybody here: We don\u2019t want a January transfer window that is full of rumors about Kenan maybe or maybe not being tempted by the Premier League. Just sign him to the new deal, get it across the finish line and let him cook some more. That\u2019s all.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n At this point last season it felt like Kalulu had played just about every possible minute there had been \u2014 and mostly out of necessity because of the depth crunch that Juve dealt with for much of early months of the 2024-25 campaign.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n So far this year, that\u2019s actually the case.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Kalulu goes into the new year having played every single second of all 24 games Juventus have played so far this season. As we know, a lot of those starts have come on very short rest with how compact the schedule can be in between each of the international breaks. But that hasn\u2019t stopped Kalulu from being the one constant presence in a starting defense that has seen plenty of other players be in and out of the lineup due to injury.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Plus, let\u2019s not forget, he start this season playing as a wingback before Spalletti arrived. That is a thing that actually happened, people! And for a good amount of games, too!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But now that Kalulu is back in the three-man defense that Spalletti has kept in place, he just looks to be much more comfortable and back to playing at the level that he was for much of last season when he was one of Juventus\u2019 best players. (You know, the kind of form that made the buy option look like a mortal lock to be picked up.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n At some point \u2014 especially with a busy January ahead \u2014 you expect Kalulu to get some rest and take a game off. But until then, he\u2019s just going to go out there and keep being as steady as can be. After him being like that for his first 18 months at Juventus, there\u2019s no reason to think it won\u2019t keep being the case no matter how many minutes he has logged this season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As the number of days before the 2025-26 season began got smaller and smaller, I couldn\u2019t help but get pretty excited about the potential of Thuram\u2019s second year in Turin and how much better it could be compared to the first.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The reality of what has actually played out compared to my hopes haven\u2019t matched up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Be it physical problems or just struggling in general, Thuram\u2019s form has not been the explosive kind of last season. While he\u2019s on pace to play around the same amount of minutes in Serie A as he did last season, Thuram only has one goal and one assist to his name through Juventus\u2019 first 17 league fixtures. After a debut season in Turin in which he had nine goal contributions, that is a follow-up number that is not exactly something to boast about.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n We know Juventus\u2019 midfield is far from where it\u2019s been even at the start of the decade, but Thuram is easily the player in the group who has the highest ceiling. Now it\u2019s about trying to get back to showing just what kind of player he was last season because that version was really, really fun to watch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n We probably won\u2019t be seeing the big Serbian striker for at least a couple more months, so that means there\u2019s going to be plenty of chances for Juve\u2019s two summer arrivals to get playing time. (Minus some sort of surprise January signing or the resurrection of Arek Milik now that he\u2019s healthy again.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s about what Openda and David can do with those chances.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There\u2019s been signs of life from both in recent weeks. How much of that is connected to the fact that they know they\u2019re not competing for minutes with Vlahovic for the next few months is unknown, but it definitely is not nothing. Openda had a very good game against Roma when Juve figured out how to use him best. David, for the struggles he still clearly shows, does have goals in Juve\u2019s last two Champions League fixtures.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n One of Spalletti\u2019s biggest tasks since he first showed up has been to get things a little more productive in attack. While we\u2019re probably still working to get to that point on a consistent basis, there\u2019s still plenty of room for things to improve with both Openda and David. The tricky thing is that they simply aren\u2019t the same kind of striker, so it\u2019s not like you can just plug and play and keep things pretty much the same with how you play. They have different strengths, different weaknesses, and have obviously struggled to shake off their early-season struggles when Spalletti was watching from his farm in Tuscany.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But hopefully as time without Vlahovic continues to go on during his injury absence they continue to find their footing because Juve need more than just Yildiz in attack right now. (Plus, playing without Vlahovic is something we all pretty much expected to be the case this season when the summer transfer window first began, so this could very well be a glimpse into how things might look going beyond the first half of 2026.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In my book, there may not have been one more disappointing player than Cambiaso during the 2025 calendar year. We know the trend by now: he was playing some of his best ball of his career 12 months ago, injured his ankle around the same time Manchester City were thinking of a potential deal and then never truly recovered from the injury \u2014 and probably the move to the Premier League \u2014 the rest of the season.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nFor Kenan Yildiz: just keep being you<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
![\"TURIN,](\"https:\/\/platform.blackwhitereadallover.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/33\/2025\/12\/gettyimages-2252887070.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&crop=0,0,100,100\")
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nFor Pierre Kalulu: just get some rest<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
For Khephren Thuram: rediscover the player we saw much of last season<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
For Lo\u00efs Openda and Jonathan David: take full advantage of Dusan Vlahovic being out<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nFor Andrea Cambiaso: make 2026 more like 2024, not 2025<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n