Saturday’s Derby d’Italia will tell us a lot about Inter Milan and Juventus

Inter Milan and Juventus both planned a lot of change for the summer. For the Nerazzurri, the Simone Inzaghi age came to an end, with their manager of four years leaving for Saudi Arabia. For the Bianconeri, a squad rebuild was outlined following a disappointing 2024/25 campaign which saw the Turin club also change managers.

Juve might not have got as much transfer business done as they would have liked ahead of the 2025/26 season, but this is a club with a new direction on and off the field. This weekend’s meeting between the two rivals will tell us a lot about the chances of success Inter and Juventus have this term.

Last season, Inter could have clinched an historic Treble. They led the Scudetto race for much of the campaign, made a deep run in the Coppa Italia and made their second Champions League final in three seasons. Inzaghi’s team could have emulated Jose Mourinho’s legendary team of 2009/10.

On all three fronts, though, the Nerazzurri fell short. Napoli edged the Serie A title race, AC Milan defeated them in the semi-finals of the Coppa Italia and Paris Saint-Germain put Inter to the sword in the most one-sided Champions League final of recent times. Inter ended the campaign empty-handed.

Inzaghi’s departure to Al-Hilal might have come at the right time. PSG made Inter look old in the Champions League final, and this is because they were old. Indeed, the Nerazzurri had the oldest average age in last season’s Champions League. It was time for the San Siro outfit to introduce some new ideas.

The process of hiring a new manager could have been smoother. Cesc Fabregas was linked with the vacancy, but ultimately decided to stay at Como. Patrick Vieira was another mentioned as a potential replacement for Inzaghi. Talks with the former Inter midfielder failed to culminate in an agreement.

In the end, Cristian Chivu was hired. While the 44-year-old is a former Inter player, he is a relative novice at the top level of management having taken charge of only a handful of matches in Serie A as Parma boss. Inter have gambled on Chivu being able to pick up where Inzaghi left off.

Inzaghi might have departed, but Inter managed to keep together the core of their squad over the summer. Luis Henrique arrived from Marseille to provide some competition on the right side of the pitch while Manuel Akanji and Peter Sucic also came in as statement signings designed to lift the Nerazzurri’s top level.

Juventus would have brought in more signs to lift their top level had they been able to move on more of their current squad. They wanted to get rid of Dusan Vlahovic and his massive salary, but were unable to find a buyer. Weston McKennie was another player linked with an exit from Allianz Stadium.

Over €80m was brought in from the sale of players like Nicolo Rovella, Nicola Savona and Nicola Fagioli with Timothy Weah, Nico Gonzalez and Douglas Luiz all leaving on loan. This gave Juve the space needed to sign Edon Zhegrova, Jonathan David and Lois Openda as Igor Tudor looked to revamp his attack.

Two wins from two games suggest Juventus are in better shape now than they were for much of last season. David in particular has settled in quickly – the Canadian international scored his first Serie A goal in the win over Parma before the international break and already looks to be the sort of well-rounded focal point Vlahovic never was.

Tudor has made Kenan Yildiz one of his most integral figures, moving the Turkish international into a number 10 position from the wing. By and large, though, this is still the same Juventus squad that failed to make a meaningful impact on Serie A last season. There’s no guarantee the Old Lady will even match last term’s fourth place finish.

There is a lot of uncertainty at the top of Serie A right now. AC Milan and Inter Milan both have new managers with Atalanta moving on from the Gian Piero Gasperini era. Napoli are the only side that appears to have obviously strengthened over the summer. From this uncertainty, though, could come opportunities for Inter and Juve.