Pierre Kalulu pulls out of France squad after picking up muscle injury vs. Fiorentina

We're less than one full day into the November international break and we have our first Juventus injury to report on. Not that we can necessarily blame international duty itself, but here we are with another Juve player injured and set to miss a little bit of time when club football resumes later this month.

Juventus announced on Monday that fullback/center back Pierre Kalulu will miss at least a couple of weeks — and likely a few games — after he reported muscle discomfort in his left thigh following the Bianconeri's 2-2 draw with Fiorentina at the Franchi on Sunday. Kalulu is expected to miss at least three weeks — the kind of thing that is at least somewhat easy to cope with considering Juve don't play again until Nov. 22 thanks to the international break. However, it is the latest in a string of injuries to important players that has been a constant theme of these first three months of the 2026-27 season.

If he is to miss at least the first week back from the international break, Kalulu won't be available for Juventus' games against Venezia and Omonoia FC in the Europa League, with there likely to be some nervy moments late fitness tests before the Bianconeri face Como on Nov. 29.

Here are the full details of things following Kalulu's visit to J Medical on Monday:

At the end of the match against Fiorentina, Pierre Kalulu reported muscle discomfort in his left thigh and underwent diagnostic tests this morning. The scans carried out at J|medical revealed a low-grade injury to his left biceps femoris. The player has begun treatment, in consultation with the French national team staff, who have withdrawn him from the squad.

At the end of the match against Fiorentina, Pierre Kalulu reported muscle discomfort in his left thigh and underwent diagnostic tests this morning.

The scans carried out at J|medical revealed a low-grade injury to his left biceps femoris. The player has begun treatment, in consultation with the French national team staff, who have withdrawn him from the squad.

OK, so just as Luciano Spalletti welcomes back Zeki Çelik into the squad, now we have to see Kalulu pull up with some sort of muscle injury that he was likely dealing with for at least some part of Sunday's draw with Fiorentina. It's a conveniently timed international break which will likely result in him not missing much actual game time, but it's yet another injury for Spalletti to deal with just as the schedule gets busy again. (Because, you know, playing every three or four days just feels like something that is sustainable four another four-week period. Good times.)

Çelik will likely slide back across the field and into his much more natural right back position if Spalletti chooses to play a back four coming out of the break. Where it gets interesting is if the three-man backline is the way Spalletti goes instead.

Either way, Juve will be without somebody in Kalulu who has played the most minutes this season of any player on the roster — including Guglielmo Vicario in goal — for at least a couple of games. Hopefully not much more than that.