Torino’s Alessandro Gazzi (left) beats Claudio Marchisio, of Juventus, to the ball.

Serie A survival will be Torino’s main objective next season as the Maroons will be looking to improve on last season’s position just outside the relegation zone and seven points ahead of third-bottom side Palermo.

In the new Serie A season, which gets under way on August 25, Torino are not likely to rank among the contenders for the honours.

Instead, they are likely to fight against the likes of Chievo and Genoa, along with promoted trio Sassuolo, Verona and Livorno, for a safe place in mid-table.

Veteran coach Giampiero Ventura is again in charge of Torino. This will be his third season in succession at the helm.

In the off-season Torino suc-ceeded in retaining the services of those players who played a key role for the club to beat the relegation threat last season, namely Guillermo Rodriguez, Kamil Glik, Matteo Brighi, Migjen Basha and Alessio Cerci.

So far this summer, the Torino club chiefs also managed to strengthen their squad with the signings of nine new players – Daniele Padelli (free agent), Nikola Maksimovic (Red Star), Cesare Bovo, Emiliano Moretti (both Genoa), Alexander Farnerud (Young Boys), Nicola Bellomo (Bari), Omar El Kaddouri (Napoli), Ciro Immobile (Juventus/Genoa) and Marcelo Larrondo (Siena).

Torino are still in the market for a new goalkeeper as last week Jean Francois Gillet was handed a 43-month ban for his involvement in a match-fixing scandal during his stint with Bari some years back.

Emiliano Viviano, Stefano Sorrentino (both Palermo) and Gianluca Pegolo (Siena) have all been linked with a possible move up north.

However, Danilo D’Ambrosio is reluctant to extend his current contract with the club, which expires at the end of next season.

So, Torino either sell their much improved defender now or risk losing him for free after June 2014.

Reports said, Algerian international left-back Faouzi Ghoulam, currently under contract with Ligue 1 outfit St Etienne, is touted to be D’Ambrosio’s replacement if the former Fiorentina man leaves for pastures new.

All in all, Torino seem to have all cards in place to keep their heads above water as Ventura has a solid base even though he will have to do without Rolando Bianchi (free agent) and Angelo Ogbonna, who left for city rivals Juventus.

Moreover, Torino now have a crop of promising players, including Maksimovic, Bellomo, El Kaddouri, Immobile and Larrondo, who will have a chance to emerge and prove themselves in the top division.

Newcomers Sassuolo will be the first team to visit Torino at the Olympic Stadium in the Serie A curtain-raiser next month.

For Eusebio Di Francesco’s team, last season’s Serie B champions with 85 points, this will be their first ever appearance in the Italian top flight.

The new season will also be a good opportunity for Di Francesco to revive his coaching career in Serie A following his short and unsuccessful stint with Lecce in season 2011/12.

Sassuolo’s major signings to date have been Jasmin Kurtic (Paler-mo), Jonathan Rossini (Sampdoria), Simone Zaza (Ascoli), Antonio Rosati (Napoli), Marius Alexe (Dinamo Bucharest) and Fran-cesco Acerbi (Chievo).

Striker Zaza, scorer of 18 goals for Ascoli last season, is a hot prospect and the fact that he is co-owned by Sassuolo with champions Juventus says a lot.

Toni at Verona

Verona finished just three points adrift of Sassuolo in Serie B last season.

Former Inter defender Andrea Mandorlini is still in charge.

Verona, the 1985 Serie A champions, will be inspired by veteran Luca Toni in attack. Last season, the former Italy man played at Fiorentina.

Chievo and Genoa struggled for most of the previous campaign and the same is expected next season as a restricted financial budget at both clubs is a serious impediment on their prospects.

To date, the major signings of Chievo and Genoa were a mix of seasoned players from low-key Serie A outfits, young prospects from the lower divisions or relatively unknown foreign imports.

Chievo are now under the charge of Giuseppe Sannino, formerly of Varese, Siena and Palermo.

Genoa have opted for the novice Fabio Liverani, formerly a Lazio, Fiorentina and Palermo midfielder.