Kenan Yildiz Returns to Juventus Squad for Chelsea Friendly
Kenan Yildiz is back in a Juventus squad, and that alone gives this pre-season stop in Hong Kong a sharper edge than the usual July run-out.
Juventus meet Chelsea at the Kai Tak Stadium on Wednesday afternoon, a glamour friendly on paper but, for Luciano Spalletti, a useful measuring stick. For Yildiz, it is something more personal: the first step back.
The 21-year-old has not played a minute of this pre-season after returning from the World Cup with lingering knee and fitness concerns. Juventus have moved cautiously, keeping him out of the early sessions and games, but he is named among the substitutes here and is expected to see his first action of the summer after the break. For a club searching for a new attacking reference point, those minutes matter.
Milik’s chance, Yildiz waiting
Spalletti has resisted the temptation to throw either of his new signings, Randal Kolo Muani or Kerim Alajbegovic, straight into the starting XI. Instead, the stage belongs to a familiar, often overlooked figure.
Arkadiusz Milik leads the line in a 3-4-2-1, a rare chance for the veteran centre-forward to remind Juventus he can still anchor an attack. Around him, there is mobility and invention: Jeremie Boga and Fabio Miretti operate just off the Pole, tasked with knitting together the transitions and feeding the penalty-box finisher ahead of them.
Behind that front trio, the midfield has a more established feel. Douglas Luiz slots in alongside captain Manuel Locatelli, a pairing that promises balance – Locatelli dictating the tempo, Luiz providing legs and bite. Out wide, Andrea Cambiaso patrols one flank, while summer recruit Zeki Celik starts on the other as wing-back, the Turkish defender handed an early audition to show he can stretch the pitch and still lock down his side.
At the back, Michele Di Gregorio starts in goal, protected by a three of Pierre Kalulu, Federico Gatti and Lloyd Kelly. It is a back line built for aggression, with pace on the cover and the licence to step in front of Chelsea’s forwards.
Juventus XI (3-4-2-1): Di Gregorio; Kalulu, Gatti, Kelly; Celik, Locatelli, D. Luiz, Cambiaso; Miretti, Boga; Milik.
Palestra’s first big Chelsea stage
On the opposite bench, Xabi Alonso wastes no time testing his own high-profile arrival.
Marco Palestra, the Italy international who joined Chelsea from Atalanta in a €60m move earlier in the summer, walks straight into the starting line-up. He starts in a back four that will be watched closely by both Chelsea fans and the Azzurri staff.
Chelsea line up in a 4-2-3-1 with Robert Sanchez in goal. Palestra takes one of the full-back roles, with Tosin and Wesley Fofana in central defence and Jorrel Hato completing the line. In front of them, Moises Caicedo partners Nicoll-Jazuli as the double pivot, asked to control Juventus’ runners between the lines and launch quick counters.
Ahead of that base, there is a distinctly attacking look. Geovany Quenda, Joao Pedro and Jamie Gittens operate behind the central striker, with new recruit Danny Welbeck immediately installed as the focal point of Alonso’s attack. The former England forward offers movement, experience and pressing from the front, a clear signal of how Alonso wants his side to play without the ball.
Chelsea XI (4-2-3-1): Sanchez; Palestra, Tosin, Fofana, Hato; Nicoll-Jazuli, Caicedo; Quenda, J. Pedro, Gittens; Welbeck.
Chelsea travel light on senior absentees but take no risks with two key names. Levi Colwill and Cole Palmer sit this one out on precautionary grounds, a reminder that pre-season is about rhythm, not jeopardy. There is, however, a notable presence on the bench: Mykhailo Mudryk, only recently back, is among a vast pool of 21 substitutes.
Depth, auditions and a World Cup return
This is pre-season, but it does not feel entirely gentle. Both managers have layered their teams with stories.
For Juventus, the eye is drawn to Yildiz. His last competitive outing came on the World Cup stage in Los Angeles, where he featured for Turkiye against USA in Group D at Los Angeles Stadium on June 25. Now, in the humidity of Hong Kong, he prepares to start again from the bench, a reminder of how quickly a young career can shift from global spotlight to careful rehabilitation.
Spalletti also uses the occasion to test combinations: Douglas Luiz with Locatelli, Celik and Cambiaso as dual wing-backs, Milik as a lone reference point. Behind them, the new signings wait their turn, Kolo Muani and Alajbegovic held back for later in the tour.
Chelsea, under Alonso, lean into their depth. Twenty-one substitutes underline the scale of the rebuild and the competition for places. With Palestra starting, Welbeck thrown straight into the XI and Mudryk ready to enter from the bench, this is not a gentle jog; it is an open casting call.
Kick-off at Kai Tak is set for 12.30 BST. By then, the sun will be high, the stands full, and two very different projects will step onto the same pitch.
For Juventus, the question hangs over a returning talent in Yildiz. For Chelsea, it hangs over a reshaped back line and a new-look attack.
Pre-season or not, those are the kinds of answers that can shape a season long before the real points are on the table.
