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

Juventus remain stuck in goal with Di Gregorio, Perin and Pinsoglio. The issue is that the second and third choices, Perin and Pinsoglio, are out of contract in a year, while first-choice keeper Di Gregorio, whose deal runs until 2029, has failed to convince either Spalletti or the club and is now almost isolated within the squad, also in light 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, the main targets, are no longer available, while other options, such as Vicario, do not entirely convince. Juventus' latest idea is to take Suzuki on loan from Paris Saint-Germain, if the French club sign the Japanese player from Parma. But does 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, from right to left, are: Kalulu and Celik, Bremer and Gatti, Kelly and Rugani, Cambiaso and Cabal. But here too, as with the goalkeepers, some of the options do not convince Spalletti. For the kind of football the Tuscan coach wants his side to play, for example, a player like Lucumì would suit him better than Gatti: the Bologna defender is used to playing around 10 metres higher up the pitch than the former Frosinone man and is more comfortable in the build-up phase, whereas Gatti is at his best in a low block and in man-to-man defending. The latest rumours suggest the gap between Juventus and Bologna has narrowed for the Colombian, whose arrival could open the door to one of Gatti, Rugani and Kelly leaving.

In midfield, if 4-2-3-1 is the starting shape, the current Juventus squad simply have 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 in line to leave, but surprisingly one of them could end up staying. What really puzzles is that, after years and numerous changes in the boardroom, there is still no genuine deep-lying playmaker who can try to repeat what first Pirlo and then Pjanic produced. Locatelli did make significant progress over the last year, but can he really be the deep-lying playmaker of a winning Juve? Here too, as in the other departments, the same line 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, to repeat the point, there are plenty of question marks: Nico Gonzalez will be sold, with only the destination and fee still to be decided, while David, Milik and Zhegrova are also on the market, despite the goal against Chelsea. Then there is the long-standing centre-forward issue: Kolo Muani is a good option, but he is a mobile forward rather than 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 play out from the back, a deep-lying playmaker and a centre-forward: those should have been Juventus's first moves, but for now they have focused on other areas of the transfer market instead.