Fiorentina, Inter, Lazio and Milan are still in the process of strengthening their squads and as things stand, all four will have to rely on all their resources to remain competitive for the entire campaign and, perhaps, challenge Juventus, Roma and Napoli for the scudetto.
Fiorentina have opted for continuity and confirmed coach Vincenzo Montella in their bid to break into the top three in the league.
To date, their two most notable additions were Argentine defender Jose Maria Basanta, from Monterrey, and midfielder Marko Marin. The German joined Fiorentina on a season-long loan from Chelsea.
Fiorentina will have Mario Gomez back in their squad but Giuseppe Rossi remains unavailable for the time being.
Last season, both strikers missed several matches through injury.
Only last weekend, Rossi suffered a fresh setback but he is not expected to be out too long after straining a thigh muscle before Fiorentina beat Real Madrid 2-1 in a friendly in Poland.
Montella insists Juan Cuadrado will not leave Florence but it is being rumoured that the Colombia winger remains on the radar of big guns Manchester United and Barcelona.
If Montella convinces Cuadrado to stay, Fiorentina would be a stronger outfit and in a better position to challenge for a Champions League berth.
This has been a busy summer for Inter who are in a period of transition.
So far, the Europa League contenders have secured the services of Pablo Osvaldo (Southampton), Nemanja Vidic (free agent, formerly of Manchester United), Gary Medel (Cardiff), Dodo (Roma) and Yann M’Vila (Rubin Kazan).
Club supremo Erick Thohir has extended the contract of coach Walter Mazzarri and appointed former captain Javier Zanetti as vice-president after having donned the Inter colours for 19 years.
Veterans Walter Samuel, Diego Milito and Esteban Cambiasso left and Inter are now rumoured to be in the process of signing a new striker – Alessio Cerci (Torino), Jonathan Biabiany (Parma) or Javier Hernandez (Manchester United).
Inter are craving for a return to Champions League football and Mazzarri looks to have a more equipped squad to target a top-three position.
However, they will have to improve on a poor away record which cost them several useful points last season.
Lazio have also been active at this particular time of the year to strengthen their squad.
Defenders Dusan Basta (Udinese), Edson Braafheid (free agent) and Stefan de Vrij (Feyenoord) all joined the Roman club along with midfielder Marco Parolo (Parma) and striker Filip Djordjevic (Nantes).
Club president Claudio Lotito has opted for former Bologna coach Stefano Pioli but only handed him a one-year contract.
Pioli replaces Edy Reja who only succeeded in leading the Sky Blues to a modest ninth place at the end of the previous season.
Inzaghi impact
Milan, too, have resorted to a change in coach as they replaced Clarence Seedorf with Filippo Inzaghi.
Seedorf had taken over from Massimiliano Allegri in January and led Milan to 11 wins in 19 league matches. However, the Dutchman was still fired at the end of the season as his methods were not liked by some senior members in his squad and most of the boardroom staff.
Inzaghi is coming from a successful stint with Milan’s youth teams. He is seen as a more unifying figure within the dressing room than his Dutch predecessor.
Defender Alex and winger Jeremy Menez (both free transfers from PSG), goalkeeper Diego Lopez (Real Madrid) and midfielder Pablo Armero (Udinese) are Milan’s major signings but there could be more additions until the end of the month.
In fact, the Rossoneri are in a race with Inter for Cerci’s signature even though Torino’s €20m asking price will probably be matched only by Spanish champions Atletico Madrid.
Ezequiel Lavezzi (PSG) and Douglas Costa (Shakhtar Donetsk) are also being monitored by Milan but in the end Inzaghi could be forced to plug the gaps in his team by introducing players from the club’s youth academy.
Milan did not have a good pre-season either this summer.
Their participation in the Guinness Cup in the US exposed the side’s frailties in all departments as they conceded 10 goals and scored only once in defeats to Olympiakos, Manchester City and Liverpool.
It will be difficult to bracket Milan among the major contenders but Inzaghi remains confident he can lead the team to a better showing than last season when the Rossoneri finished eighth – their lowest position since 1997/98.