The new Serie A season is due to begin in less than two weeks and both Juventus and Inter have striking issues to resolve.

Inter start the campaign with a home game against Monza, while Juve have a tricky game away in Udine - never the easiest of venues for any of Italy’s leading lights.

Yet as those games loom on the horizon, both teams have work to do on the transfer market, and especially in the firepower positions. Inter are yet to fully replace Edin Dzeko and Romelu Lukaku; Juventus seem hellbent on offloading Dusan Vlahovic to bring in Lukaku.

As things stand, Inter only have three strikers going into the season: Lautaro Martinez, Marcus Thuram and Joaquin Correa, the latter of which could leave by the end of the transfer window. Inter had been almost certain to bring back Lukaku after the end of his loan deal last season, but his dalliance with Juve and Milan in the lead-up to the Champions League final didn’t go down particularly well in the black-and-blue half of Milan, so much so that they effectively cut all ties with the Belgian.

Gianluca Scamacca had been heavily linked with a return to Serie A via a move to Inter, but the club lost out on the Italian striker to Atalanta, who replaced Rasmus Hojlund with the former Sassuolo man. The likes of Arsenal’s Folarin Balogun and Alvaro Morata have also been linked, but nothing has come to fruition.

Simone Inzaghi is no doubt aware that Inter need more goals in attack, with Thuram untested in Serie A and Correa injury-prone, the onus is on Martinez to repeat the 28 goals he scored in all competitions last season. Yet with the market for genuine strikers scarce and Inter lacking the financial firepower to secure an experienced one, it’ll be interesting to see how the club remedies the problem in the final weeks of the window.

The situation is completely different at Juve where, they possess one of the game’s potentially brilliant strikers in Vlahovic, yet seem determined to sell him for Lukaku. It’s no secret that the Serb’s time in Turin hasn’t come close to matching his time at Fiorentina. Max Allegri’s ultra pragmatic style has done little to help Vlahovic, who’s often looked isolated during games and starved of service.

Bringing Lukaku to Juve is reportedly a request from Allegri, who believed the striker would be a better fit for the Bianconeri than Vlahovic. Yet at a time when Juve’s debt is decreasing but still large at an estimated €330m ($361m) in 2022-23, the club can hardly be seen to trade a 30-year-old with no resale value for a 23-year-old with plenty of it. However it seems Allegri wants the Belgian at all costs, and Juve seem willing to bend to Allegri’s will.

The sticking point of course is that Vlahovic’s stock has fallen drastically since signing for Juve that when the club offered him to Chelsea as part of a package deal for Lukaku, it’s been stated that Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino nixed the idea, with the Argentine supposedly lukewarm on the idea of bringing Vlahovic to the Premier PINC League.

How the impasse between Juve and Chelsea is unlocked remains to be seen: Juve need money to buy Lukaku, but need to offload Vlahovic first. But the team who needs him the most - Inter - won’t even contemplate bringing him back due to what they perceive as a ‘betrayal’ from the striker.

Most believe that Juve ought to have faith in Vlahovic and build the team around him, acknowledging that he’s only 23 and there’s room to improve. The same cannot be said for Lukaku, who is the finished article in terms of development. This is precisely why Allegri wants him: to win now, as the Tuscan coach knows he only has two more seasons at the club at most and, with his second stint a disaster compared to his all-conquering first spell, cannot afford another season without lifting a trophy.

Will Juve and Inter line out on the opening weekend of the Serie A season with new strikers? You wouldn’t bet on it.