Juventus improved by the transfer market, but with three major unknowns, including Spalletti: he must go back to being the one from Napoli, not the one from the national team

For Juventus, a transfer window with many arrivals and many departures has come to an end: from now on, the manager's work will be decisive

Juventus have closed an explosive transfer window, packed with twists and turns. The result is a squad with a few more options, still with some gaps and, above all, still with many question marks.

First, the first twist arrived between the end of last season and the start of the transfer window, with yet another boardroom upheaval. Out went Comolli and Modesto, in came Carnevali and Massara. The new management walked in with the game already under way, because top clubs start planning the summer window in winter. They then tried to repair the damage caused by the previous regimes while dealing with the limits of the UEFA settlement agreement. The verdict on Carnevali and Massara is positive, even if to judge them properly it will be necessary to wait for the winter transfer window and, above all, next summer's, as well as naturally the outcome of the season that has just begun. Unlike Giuntoli, who in his first summer at Juventus only brought in Weah, a deal in fact handled by Manna, Carnevali and Massara have been extremely active, completing 11 arrivals (including players returning from loan) and 12 departures (including contracts that expired).

The crucial turning points

Juventus' transfer market has gone through some fundamental turning points: Spalletti's confirmation despite the failure to qualify for the Champions League (the manager had signed a contract extension until 2028 with Comolli in April, while Carnevali, who arrived in June, backed the decision to continue with Spalletti); the illusion of being able to target major players of experience and quality vanished after Juventus missed out on the Champions League (Alisson, Bernardo Silva, Lewandowski); the decision not to meet Vlahovic's contractual demands and, therefore, to do without him (and here, probably, there was a difference of views between the management and the coach, who would have wanted the Serb back); the Kolo Muani saga, pursued for a year, then completed on a permanent deal for a significant fee, and finally needled by Spalletti after a missed chance in the first official match; the goalkeepers saga, with the unsuccessful pursuit not only of Alisson, but also of Dibu Martinez and Svilar, before Juventus turned to Vicario and Grabara; the difficult and disadvantageous loan departures of players coming off a dreadful season (Di Gregorio, David and Openda); the surprise names in attack, building to the arrivals of Ekhator, Alajbegovic and Woltemade.

Two big doubts

In summary, the transfer window that has just closed (but keep an eye on possible departures over the next few hours and days to Turkey and Saudi Arabia, where the market is still open) leaves Juventus clearly improved in goal, with more quality options in defence (both centrally and out wide, with Lucumì and Celik), and with plenty of quality and options in attacking midfield and on the wings (and Nico Gonzalez's importance was immediately clear). The biggest doubts remain in the centre of attack, where both Kolo Muani and Woltemade like to drift, and neither is the classic penalty-box centre-forward Spalletti likes so much, and above all in midfield, where they have lacked for years a top-class deep-lying playmaker and a player capable of guaranteeing both creativity and work rate at the same time. Douglas Luiz's return is a gamble (one that has, for now, started well), while Sarr's arrival is a stop-gap solution after the Kessié setback.

And the real Spalletti is needed

Much of the feeling around Juventus' season, and therefore how this transfer window will be judged in a few months' time, will hinge on Spalletti's work, as he must shake off the lingering after-effects of the failure with Italy, which still surface at times in his statements and decisions, and rediscover his best instincts, as with his title-winning Napoli, and on the relationship that does, or does not, develop between the manager and the club hierarchy, between Spalletti's choices and those, in the transfer market, of Carnevali and Massara.

Summary of signings and sales

SIGNINGS: Nico Gonzalez (f, Atletico Madrid), Douglas Luiz (m, Aston Villa), Rugani (d, Fiorentina), Ekhator (f, Genoa), Celik (d, Roma), Alajbegovic (f, Bayer Leverkusen), Kolo Muani (f, Paris Saint-Germain), Lucumí (d, Bologna), Vicario (g, Tottenham), Grabara (g, Wolfsburg), Sarr (m, Tottenham), Woltemade (f, Newcastle).

DEPARTURES: Holm (d, Bologna), Vlahovic (f, Besiktas), Kostic (m, PSV), Openda (f, Lyon), Rouhi (d, Carrarese), Pedro Felipe (d, Racing Santander), Adzic (m, Sassuolo), Joao Mario (d, Fiorentina), Arthur (m, contract termination), Di Gregorio (g, Bournemouth), Perin (g, Palermo), Miretti (m, Besiktas), David (f, Atletico Madrid).