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Massara’s surprises leave plenty of unanswered questions: bringing in a goalkeeper on loan is not something Juventus usually do.

Juventus are still short of four key pieces in the transfer market for a side that wants to get back to winning ways.

Juventus’ new management has already produced some results, but with two weeks left before the league season begins and a little over three weeks before the transfer window closes, the squad still has several important holes. On the positive side, the patient work of Giovanni Carnevali finally untangled the talks and brought Randal Kolo Muani back to Continassa after a year, while the reports from Marco Ottolini persuaded everyone to back Jeff Ekhator. Then came Frederic Massara, whose arrival gave the process a significant push and added a disruptive touch, with the surprise signings of Zeki Celik and Kerim Alajbegovic.

That covers the encouraging part. The concerns are much easier to identify: Juventus still have not dealt with their biggest issues, some of them long-standing ones — a goalkeeper, a defender who is comfortable with the ball at his feet and can start moves from the back, a deep-lying midfielder and a penalty-box centre-forward.

Can Juventus really afford a goalkeeper on loan?

Juventus remain blocked in the goalkeeping department with Di Gregorio, Perin and Pinsoglio. The problem is that the second and third choices, Perin and Pinsoglio, are both 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 now finds himself almost isolated within the squad, also 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, the main targets, are no longer available, while other options, such as Vicario, do not fully 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 can a club like Juventus really try to rebuild a winning side with a goalkeeper — one of the most crucial roles, especially after what happened last season — arriving on loan?

With Lucumi, goodbye to the low block

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, just as with the goalkeepers, some of the available options do not convince Spalletti. For the type of football the Tuscan coach wants his team to play, for instance, a player like Lucumi would suit him better than Gatti: the Bologna defender is used to operating around 10 metres higher up the pitch than the former Frosinone player and is more at ease in the build-up phase, whereas Gatti gives 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 pave the way for one of Gatti, Rugani and Kelly to leave.

Locatelli is not enough

In midfield, if 4-2-3-1 is the starting system, the current Juventus squad simply has too many central midfielders: seven in total — Locatelli, McKennie, Thuram, Koopmeiners, 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 expected to leave, but surprisingly one of them could end up staying. What is truly puzzling is that, after years and numerous changes in the boardroom, there is still no genuine deep-lying playmaker capable of trying to reproduce what first Pirlo and then Pjanic delivered. Locatelli did make major progress over the last year, but can he really be the deep-lying playmaker of a title-winning Juve? Here too, as in the other areas of the squad, the same point applies: there are plenty of players, but the level of quality is not especially high.

And Vlahovic’s replacement?

There is strength in numbers in attack as well: 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 once again, there are many doubts: Nico Gonzalez will be sold, with only the destination and transfer fee still to be settled, while David, Milik and Zhegrova are also on the market, despite the goal against Chelsea. Then there is the long-running 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, Vlahovic’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’ first moves, but for now they have focused on other parts of the transfer market instead.