Luciano Spalletti dusted off his highest compliment on Sunday. Asked about Kenan Yildiz in an interview with Tuttosport, the Juventus head coach said the 21-year-old Turkey winger reminds him of Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, the player he coached to the Serie A title at Napoli in 2022-23.
“For me he is comparable to Kvara. He just needs to play a bit more, but I see him as very similar in the unexpected,” Spalletti told the Turin daily.
“He is one who breaks the system. Not even he knows what he can do.”
Spalletti was appointed Juventus head coach in October 2025 after Igor Tudor’s dismissal, and in April the club extended his deal through the summer of 2028 with a wider say in recruitment. Kvaratskhelia, meanwhile, left Napoli for Paris Saint-Germain and has been held up by Spalletti before as a career highlight.
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Arsenal and Real Madrid circling
The compliment lands at a sensitive moment. Yildiz is sidelined with a foot injury and expected back in November, but his name has been pushed to the top of two shortlists this autumn.
Real Madrid are stepping up their interest in the Turkey international, who contributed 11 goals and 10 assists across all competitions last season. Arsenal explored a move during the summer window and are expected to try again.
Juventus have little reason to listen. Yildiz is under contract until 2030, and the club have made clear they want to build their attack around him. Reports put his valuation at around €100m.
‘He gets in his own way’
The tone shifted when Tuttosport asked about Vlahovic, who joined Besiktas on a free transfer in August after his Juventus contract ran down. Spalletti coached him through the 2025-26 season before the Serbian walked away for free.
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“He still has to find calm. He needs to find a personal balance, because he gets himself in a tangle on his own,” Spalletti said of the 26-year-old.
He framed the problem as temperament rather than talent, describing it as “a question of balance, of finding the right emotional temperature.” Vlahovic is reunited at Besiktas with Vincenzo Italiano, who coached him at Fiorentina, on a reported €7.5m-a-year deal running to 2029.
The players Spalletti says shaped him
In the same interview, Spalletti was asked which players he had influenced most across his career. He named five: Pizarro at Udinese, Lobotka and Kvaratskhelia at Napoli, Mohamed Salah at Roma and Joao Cancelo at Inter.
Juventus return to action after the international break. Yildiz, barring a setback, is still weeks away.
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