Conceicao returns to find a different Juventus: what happens in the January transfer window

After the international break, Juventus will have Francisco Conceicao back, but his future is the subject of transfer speculation: could the Portuguese player leave as early as the January transfer window?

After the international break, Francisco Conceicao will return for Juventus as he recovers from the dislocated shoulder he sustained in the defeat to Lazio on 18 October. Born in 2002, the Portuguese player faces a fight to reclaim his place after the changes at Juventus during his absence.

Since Conceicao's injury, Juventus have made two significant changes: a switch to a back three in a 3-5-2 (or 3-4-2-1) that puts their many wide players at a disadvantage, and a 'new' role for Randal Kolo Muani. Against AZ Alkmaar and Fiorentina, he shone high on the right, in Chico's position. Luciano Spalletti's side have also struggled for goals (Juventus have Serie A's 13th-ranked attack, with 15 goals), so the club urgently need to act in the January transfer window. But Juventus will also have to sell to buy, despite the capital increase approved yesterday by the board of directors. That raises the question of whether Conceicao could also leave Turin in January, alongside Gatti, Cambiaso and Zhegrova, the three leading candidates for a sale.

Fabrizio Romano assesses Conceicao's situation on his YouTube channel: "Conceicao was never really close to leaving Juventus during the summer, first and foremost because of his own wishes: Conceicao is happy at Juventus and wants to stay at Juventus. He is very pleased that Juventus backed him so strongly a year and a half ago, making his move permanent and paying a significant sum to have him, so Conceicao is very happy at Juventus," reports TuttoJuve.com. "There was a lot of talk about the Premier League, but none of those stories was concrete or true, let's put it that way. There was a possibility with Al-Hilal, in the sense that Al-Hilal had also considered him on a list of wide players. There were two or three names, then they signed Martinelli and Summerville. Conceicao certainly wants to continue at Juventus and is not planning a move in January, nor are Juventus. Today, everything we are hearing about Conceicao points towards him staying and the two continuing together. The transfer market can bring surprises, of course: if a huge offer were to arrive, never say never. But today, in November, Conceicao and Juventus are not planning to part ways. On the contrary, they fully expect to continue together at least until the end of the season."

Conceicao is most likely to stay at Juventus until June rather than leave in the January transfer window. After that, much could change in the summer, one way or the other, with the Portuguese player's future dependent on several factors: his wishes, the size of any offers that might arrive, the identity of the Juventus manager (Spalletti? Simone Inzaghi? Conte?) and the formation he adopts, the make-up of the Juventus attack in 2027-28 (both in numbers and technical characteristics), and the performances of Juventus' number 7.