Juventus' Giorgio Chiellini out 6 Months After Undergoing Surgery on ACL Injury

Juventus have confirmed defender Giorgio Chiellini underwent successful knee surgery on Tuesday and is expected to be sidelined for around six months.

It was recently announced Chiellini ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in training. The club released a statement saying the 35-year-old's operation had been "perfectly successful."

Chiellini has made 507 appearances for the Bianconeri and has a contract with the Turin giants until the end of this season.

The centre-back looks likely to miss Juve's schedule until the beginning of March or so, affecting the plans of manager Maurizio Sarri in a major way.

It hasn't been long since the stalwart illustrated his importance to the club and scored the only goal in their recent Serie A opener away to Parma:

Sarri is blessed to have one of the most well-stocked corps of central defenders in Europe, one that could survive such a senior absence from the lineup for the months ahead.

The Bianconeri secured the talents of Matthijs de Ligt from Ajax for €75 million this summer, as well as recruiting highly promising Turkey international Merih Demiral from Sassuolo.

That's in addition to the existing options provided by Leonardo Bonucci and Daniele Rugani, leaving Sarri with four very capable alternatives in that area of the field.

Chiellini remains close to the squad despite his injury and showed his usual character as a spectator following Juve's recent 4-3 win over Serie A rivals Napoli, via sportswriter Adam Digby:

Juventus could miss their star defender in the upcoming UEFA Champions League, where they've been drawn in a tough-looking Group D alongside Atletico Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen and Lokomotiv Moscow.

The Italian titans will hope their European campaign is thriving when Chiellini makes his return to the squad in 2020, while their hopes of a ninth successive Scudetto are sure to be hurt by his absence.