Massara’s surprises and plenty of question marks: a goalkeeper on loan is not a Juventus thing

Juventus are still stuck with Di Gregorio, Perin and Pinsoglio in goal. The problem is that the second and third-choice keepers, Perin and Pinsoglio, are out of contract in a year, while first-choice keeper Di Gregorio, whose deal runs until 2029, satisfies neither Spalletti nor the club and is almost an outcast in Turin, not least because of the sensational case involving his agent in July. So far, Juventus have found neither a solution for Di Gregorio nor a new first-choice goalkeeper. Alisson and Dibu Martinez were the main targets, but both have slipped away, while other options, such as Vicario, are not entirely convincing. The latest idea is to take Suzuki on loan from Paris Saint Germain, if the French club buy the Japanese goalkeeper from Parma. But do a club like Juventus really want to rebuild a winning team with a goalkeeper, one of the crucial roles given what happened last season, on loan?

At the back, the pairings in a back four run from right to left: Kalulu and Celik, Bremer and Gatti, Kelly and Rugani, Cambiaso and Cabal. But, as with the goalkeepers, the quality of some of the players does not convince Spalletti. For the kind of football the Tuscan coach wants his team to play, for example, a player like Lucumì would suit him better than Gatti: the Bologna defender is used to operating around 10 metres higher up the pitch than the former Frosinone man and is better in the build-up phase, whereas Gatti is at his best in a low block and in man-to-man situations. The latest rumours suggest the gap between Juventus and Bologna has narrowed for the Colombian, whose arrival could open the door to the departure of one of Gatti, Rugani and Kelly.

In midfield, with 4-2-3-1 as the reference system, the current Juventus squad have far too many central midfielders, seven in all: Locatelli, McKennie, Thuram, Kooopmeiners, Miretti, Douglas Luiz and Arthur. The first three are almost untouchable, while Juventus are ready to listen to offers for Koopmeiners and Miretti. Then there are the two Brazilians, who remain a question mark: in theory, they would be the first two candidates to leave, but surprisingly one of them could end up staying. What remains puzzling, though, is that after years and numerous changes in the boardroom, there is still no genuine deep-lying playmaker who can attempt to repeat first Pirlo's exploits and then Pjanic's. Locatelli did make significant progress over the last year, but can he really be the deep-lying playmaker of a winning Juventus? Here too, as in the other departments, the same refrain applies: there are plenty of players, but the quality is not especially high.

There is strength in numbers up front too: for the four attacking roles in the 4-2-3-1, Juventus currently have as many as 10 players available: Alajbegovic, Kolo Muani, Ekhator, Nico Gonzalez, Boga, Conceicao, David, Milik, Yildiz and Zhegrova. But here too, forgive the repetition, there are plenty of question marks: Nico Gonzalez will be sold, with only the destination and price still to be decided, while David, Milik and Zhegrova are also up for sale, despite the goal against Chelsea. Then there is the long-running centre-forward problem: Kolo Muani is a good option to have back, but he is a mobile forward and not the physical central striker Spalletti would love to have. Put simply, despite the 10 forwards in the squad, Vlajovic's replacement is still missing.

A goalkeeper, a defender who can build from the back, a deep-lying playmaker and a centre-forward: those were supposed to be Juventus's first moves, but for now they have focused on other areas of the market instead.