Osteoarthritis (OA) is a degenerative joint disease, charac- terized by cartilage loss and changes in bone at the interface of a joint resulting in pain, stiffness and reduced mobility. Current non-surgical treatments for OA involve non- steroidal anti-inflammatory drug administration. Surgical treatments include osteotomy, abrasion arthroplasty, microfracture and autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI). This is a two-stage surgical procedure with the associate costs and infection being the main concern. The demand for innovative therapeutic alternatives for complete healing of OA is significant, and many new technologies, such as osteochondral tissue engineering, have been studied and applied to repair osteochondral defects. However, no products have so far demonstrated to provide biomechanical properties suitable to promote the durable regeneration of large OC defects. The aim of this paper was to define the functionality and performance which would be required for intended clinical applications in the treatment of osteoarthritis and also to show that the capabilities of 3D bioprinting and functionally graded additive manufacturing scaffolds are suitable to meet most of these requirements.