The 2026-27 Serie A season starts in two weeks. As things stand right now, one of Juventus’ biggest issues entering the summer mercato still has not been resolved — and who really knows that it actually will before things kick off against Frosinone on Aug. 23.
That is because Michele Di Gregorio is still on Juve’s roster.
That is the same Michele Di Gregorio who, as things stand right now, is one of the Bianconeri’s biggest liabilities. And should. be treated as such. Which means that there is no way
in hell Luciano Spalletti can go into the opener against Frosinone with Di Gregorio walking out of the tunnel as the player immediately behind captain Manuel Locatelli as Juve’s starting goalkeeper.
No way, no how.
Not after another instance — albeit it one that is a preseason friendly where no points are actually on the line — of Di Gregorio not only allowing a goal on the first shot he faced but also making blunders on both goals he conceded. (There were other issues with other Juventus players and how they defended (or attempted to), but they were two savable shots that ended up being Inter goals.) The second one looked a little something like this …
It’s not good. The first goal wasn’t much better. That is the guy who has started each of Juventus’ preseason games and had one of the worst single-season performances from a Bianconeri goalkeeper in quite some time. (Like decades, folks.) He’s become a massive liability — which is something you never want to say about your goalkeeper (or any player at this level).
But we still don’t really know if it’s going to be Di Gregorio starting or somebody else come Aug. 23 at the Stadio Benito Stripe in Frosinone.
All summer — and even before that — we’ve heard that Juventus are in the market for a new goalkeeper and that Spalletti has made it clear to whatever management that was in charge at the time something has to change in goal. They’ve agreed to personal terms with Aisson Becker, only to see him stay at Liverpool. We’ve seen Juve then pivot and agree to personal terms for Emi Martinez, only to balk at Aston Villa’s demands and basically see that deal go up in smoke, too. They’ve gone more than two months trying to sign two of the best goalkeepers in the Premier League
That means, two weeks before the season starts, we don’t actually know who Juventus’ starting goalkeeper really is.
Maybe this is all a ploy by Spalletti and the management team to have Di Gregorio in goal during preseason fixtures to try and attract some sort of interest that results in something more than just a report or two on social media about a club in Italy or elsewhere having requested information and then nothing more than that. Maybe come two Saturdays from now, it’s Mattia Perin starting in goal no matter what and all of these Di Gregorio-related worries are something of a moot topic.
But if it’s not …
I get that there are still a lot of issues with this Juventus roster. They’ve got a left back who is not very good at defending. They’ve got a midfield that is far from an imposing unit and still struggles to consistently be a productive source on both ends of the field. We all hope that Randal Kolo Muani can improve the attack as the new leader of the line and No. 9, but that’s only to be determined as these next few months go on.
But goalkeeper has to toward the top of the list — and as of the second weekend of August is still just as big of a need to address on the transfer market as it was the second the 2025-26 season ended.
At this point it can be Zion Suzuki, Anatoliy Trubin, Guglielmo Vicario or somebody else. Just as long as it’s not Di Gregorio as Juventus’ starter against Frosinone two weeks from now. He’s crashed and has had plenty of time to lift himself up off the mat. He hasn’t done that, and now it’s time to go another direction. Juve are likely to be playing another season living on the fine margins, and that means they can’t afford to have such a giant question mark in goal.
The clock is ticking. But who am I kidding? It’s been that way all summer.
