Juventus CEO Giuseppe Marotta has highlighted Inter as the Scudetto holders' main rivals to top Serie A in 2015-16.
Roberto Mancini's men finished a whopping 32 points behind Massimiliano Allegri's Italian champions last season and the last time they topped the table was when Jose Mourinho guided them to the treble in 2010.
However, that has not deterred the Turin club chief from tipping the Nerazzurri - ahead of the likes of Roma, Lazio, AC Milan, Napoli and Fiorentina - to return to the top of Serie A in this campaign.
"I would say our big rivals are Inter - I'm impressed with them," he told reporters. "Considering their investments, they absolutely should be considered a real competitor for the Scudetto."
The Bianconeri, who have won four consecutive Italian titles, are scheduled to kick off their season at home to Udinese on August 23.
Rumoured targets Mario Gotze and Julian Draxler are not set to play a part in that fixture after Marotta confirmed Juve failed in their attempts at signing the Bayern Munich and Schalke stars.
"We are looking for a midfielder," he added. "He doesn't necessarily have to be unique, but his profile must be of the right calibre to play with Juventus.
"We probed for Gotze and Draxler, but we never got to the real negotiations."
Prior to the start of the new league campaign, Juventus face Lazio in the Supercoppa Italiana on Saturday, with kick-off at 13:00BST.
