Juventus’ injury problems continued on Thursday after Teun Koopmeiners was found to have suffered a fractured rib during last weekend’s Serie A draw with Cagliari. Netherlands midfielder Koopmeiners was substituted at half-time of Sunday’s 1-1 draw and Juve said that he underwent tests “following the persistence of the painful symptoms”. Those tests “showed the presence of a slightly dislocated fracture of the second right anterior rib”. Juve did not say for how long Koopmeiners would be sidelined, adding that “his recovery will be evaluated according to his symptoms”.

The 26-year-old, who signed for Juventus from Atalanta in August in a deal worth up to 60.7 million euros ($66.4 million), could be out for as long as four weeks.

That would rule him out of Juve’s trip to fierce rivals and reigning Serie A champions Inter Milan later this month.

Koopmeiners’ layoff is the latest to hit coach Thiago Motta, who last week lost key defender Gleison Bremer to an anterior cruciate ligament injury which could keep the Brazil defender out for the rest of the season.

Also on Juve’s treatment table are wingers Nicolas Gonzalez and Timothy Weah and striker Arkadiusz Milik, who has had persistent problems with his left knee.

Juventus are third in Serie A, three points behind league leaders Napoli and level with their next opponents Lazio.

Juventus have been readmitted to the European Club Association (ECA) after the Serie A club’s failed bid to create a continental Super League, the organisation’s chief Nasser Al-Khelaifi said on Thursday. Italy’s most successful club, Juve abandoned the ECA in order to push for the so-called European Super League, which was launched in April 2021 but quickly collapsed after fan anger and threats from governing bodies UEFA and FIFA. “I am pleased to welcome Juventus back to our family. Now, all top division clubs in over 20 countries are ECA members,” Al-Khelaifi, who is also president of Paris Saint-Germain, said during the ECA’s General Assembly in Athens.

Juve, then chaired by Super League crusader Andrea Agnelli, intended to be one of 12 founder clubs alongside the likes of Real Madrid, Barcelona and a clutch of teams from England’s Premier League.

Since the original Super League project failed, Agnelli has been hit with two lengthy bans from Italian football after the country’s football federation found him and Juventus guilty of a series of financial offences.

The project is still technically alive and being pushed by A22 Sports Management, who are promoting a redesigned version of the breakaway continental competition with 64 teams playing in three divisions.

In December last year the European Union’s Court of Justice ruled that a ban of the Super League enforced by the sport’s existing governing bodies was against EU law.