Luciano Spalletti believes youngster Kerim Alajbegovic has earned "a bit more responsibility" ahead of Juventus' Europa League trip to AZ.
Spalletti 'happy to give a bit more responsibility' to Juve youngster Alajbegovic
Juventus face AZ in the Europa League on Thursday, and Luciano Spalletti is set to give more minutes to youngster Kerim Alajbegovic.
Alajbegovic scored his first Serie A goal for the Bianconeri in their 2-0 win over Napoli on Sunday.
At 19 years and 41 days old, he became the youngest non-Italian goalscorer in the history of the Serie A fixture between Juve and Napoli.
Alajbegovic is also the youngest forward to have both scored at least one goal and provided at least one assist in Europe's top-five leagues in the 2026-27 season.
In total, five forwards born in 2007 or later have both scored and assisted in these leagues this term: alongside the Bosnian, they are Lamine Yamal, Charalampos Kostoulas, Jay Robinson, and Paul Mendy.
Spalletti has been surprised by Alajbegovic's early impact, but has tempered expectations around the teenager.
"Alajbegovic took on the responsibility; a young player like him usually slides back in difficult moments, but instead he gave an important contribution to turn those difficulties around," said Spalletti.
"He was signed originally as a player with promising prospects, but seeing his form and response, we are happy to give him a bit more responsibility.
"It is nice to see this response, but it is difficult to play regularly at this level, so let's not get ahead of ourselves.
"I can say he will feature for some of the game [against AZ], either sooner or later."
AZ and Juventus are meeting for the first time in European football, with the hosts unbeaten across their last five European matches against Italian sides (W4 D1).
Juventus are unbeaten across their three Europa League games against Dutch sides (W2 D1), scoring seven goals and conceding just once across those matches.
