Last season, Milan was the center of the Italian soccer world, as the two city rivals battled at the top of the table. This season, things will not change much as Internazionale and AC Milan will lead the race for the scudetto. And just like last season, Inter will likely fall just short of the trophy.

Two seasons ago, Inter was the undisputed king of europe, winning the Champions League and a domestic double. But those achievements come with a cost, and Inter spent an awful lot of money to make those victories happen. It should come as no surprise that the club would need to take a bit of a spending break, and that seems like what they have done this summer. Inter has an aging squad, and they have done little to freshen it so far, so expecting these same players to greatly improve on last seasons results may be asking too much.

But this is still a star-studded squad filled with accomplished and talented players all over the pitch. Wesley Sneijder, Thiago Motta and Esteban Cambiasso makeup one of the world’s best midfields, while Diego Milito and Giampaolo Pazzini provide plenty of goals. The defense of Lucio, Walter Samuel, Maicon and Cristian Chivu are accomplished and solid, but they are not getting any younger. All four are on the wrong side of thirty, so quality in depth is going to be important if Inter is to compete in Europe and on the peninsula.

New boy Ricky Alvarez joins Inter from Velez Sarsfield on a transfer worth around 12 millions euros, so far the marquee signing of the summer. The 23 year old midfielder was linked to some of Europe’s best clubs before agreeing to move to Milan. He is certainly a talented player, but I am not sure he will make a huge impact this season. It wouldn’t surprise me if Alvarez will require a season or two to adjust and improve.

However, it is very possible we will see more changes to Inter, with the sale of striker Samuel Eto’o to Russian club Anzhi Makhachkala. The Cameroonian’s goalscoring talents will be missed by the Nerazzurri, but Anzhi made them, and the Eto’o, an offer much too lucrative to pass up. Reports suggest Inter will receive somewhere in the area of 20 million euros for the sale, and we can only assume at least a portion of those funds will be spent on replacing him.

Uncertainty also surrounds the aforementioned Wesley Sneijder. Earlier in the summer, the Dutch maestro appeared on his way to Manchester United but a deal failed to materialize. While it seems unlikely at this point that he will move away from Milan before the end of the transfer window, a deadline-day deal would not be at all shocking. Holding on to Sneijder is key to Inter’s success.

But the true wildcard for this season is new coach Gian Piero Gasperini. Inter’s leader joins the club after four seasons with Genoa, where he gained a reputation for exciting attacking play. But he did so by often employing a 3-4-3 system. It remains to be seen if Gasperini will try a similar approach with Inter. And if he does try that system, it will be interesting to see how well the players adjust, especially aging defenders not used to playing with only three backs.

Should Gasperini’s ideas work, Inter will be a joy to watch. But if they fail, I can easily see Inter struggling to even qualify for Europe next year. That is just a variable much too uncertain for me to pick them any higher than second in this year’s table. But simply on talent alone, they should be able to make a decent title challenge.