Federico Chiesa undergoes successful knee surgery

Juventus have confirmed that Federico Chiesa has undergone successful surgery as he begins his long road to recovery from a knee injury.

Chiesa tore his anterior cruciate ligament in the first half of the hectic 4-3 victory over Roma earlier this month, ending his season with a return of four goals and four assists in 18 appearances across Serie A and the Champions League.

Surgery was soon decided to be the only option, and Juventus have now confirmed that Chiesa has left the operating table after a successful procedure.

The expectation is that he will need another seven months to recover and get back to full strength, after which he will require time in training to build up his match fitness.

With his season already over, Chiesa's focus is on making it back in time for the 2022 World Cup which, fortunately for the winger, will be held in November and December rather than the summer.

An absence of seven months would see Chiesa return in August or September, early in the 2022/23 campaign, so he will fancy his chances of earning a place in Roberto Mancini's squad to head to Qatar later this year... assuming Italy actually qualify.

A less-than-stellar qualification campaign saw the Azzurri drop into the play-offs, where they will have to beat North Macedonia and then either Turkey or Portugal to book their spot in the competition.