Luciano Spalletti says Juventus forward Kenan Yildiz has the unpredictability and creative instinct to be compared with Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
Yildiz has played only 69 minutes across all competitions this season after undergoing surgery in August to repair a fractured metatarsal. The Turkiye international is not expected to return until next month.
The 20-year-old was Juventus’ leading scorer and assist provider last season, registering 14 goals and 10 assists. He also created more chances than any other Bianconeri player, with 100, while attempting 220 dribbles and completing 105 – both team highs.
Those statistics have prompted Spalletti to draw a comparison with Kvaratskhelia, whom he managed at Napoli during the 2022-23 campaign. The Georgian attacker, now a two-time Champions League winner with Paris Saint-Germain, scored 14 goals and supplied 14 assists in that season as Napoli won the Scudetto.
“Yildiz makes football shine,” Spalletti told Tuttosport. “His every move is ingenious and breaks the system.
“When he starts, even he doesn’t necessarily have a plan of what he’ll do next. Sometimes, in training, I see the defenders predict his movement, and they still can’t stop him.
“He has the madness of invention. For me, he is comparable to Kvaratskhelia.
“He needs to play a bit more, but I see similarities in the unpredictability, the way he stays outside of the rules and timing you expect in football.
“He’s a lovely guy, the boy next door type, but also a leader – one that doesn’t need to talk much.”
Juventus entered the international break seventh in a tightly packed Serie A table. Their latest match brought a 2-0 victory against Atalanta, a result that followed a 3-2 defeat by Sassuolo.
The Turin club will resume their campaign next Sunday with a trip to Cagliari. Their opponents are currently one point above them in the table.
