Among Europe's elite, they had largely gone out of fashion, strike partnerships.

Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester City, Liverpool and Bayern Munich all prefer a 4-3-3 system where attackers are afforded the luxury of floating across the front line, aiming to disrupt opposition defenders, throw them off the scent.

In Italy, the game is more considered, a greater emphasis placed on tactics. Simply banking on a lone striker, as they did last season under Luciano Spalletti with Mauro Icardi, is not enough to dethrone Juventus. So under Antonio Conte, Inter are taking it right back.

Lautaro Martinez (left) and Romelu Lukaku (right) are thriving as an old-school partnership

Deployed up top together in Antonio Conte's 3-5-2 system, Inter Milan are reaping the rewards

It is not as if Lautaro Martinez and Romelu Lukaku have had years to foster an understanding to the point where they now appear to be as close to telepathic as players can be.

They have been together a matter of months. Since August 8, to be precise, when Lukaku sealed a £75million switch from Manchester United to the San Siro.

United fans were thrilled that a player many derided was gone and the focus of their attack was now on Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial. They may be forgiven for wondering if Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's decision was a bit premature.

Lukaku has 14 league goals and is second in the race for the capocannoniere (top-scorer) award, behind Lazio's Ciro Immobile, who has 19. Martinez has nine, with three assists in 17 league games.

Their 23 total goals equals the output of title rivals Juventus with Cristiano Ronaldo (13), Paulo Dybala and Gonzalo Higuain (both with five) all combining for the same amount.

Lukaku and Martinez, with 30 between them in all competitions, conjure up memories of some of the great partnerships: Thierry Henry and Denis Bergkamp, Dwight Yorke and Andy Cole, Alan Shearer and Chris Sutton among others.

Lukaku is a fine finisher and has got his mojo back since leaving Manchester United in August

Martinez (right) has also proved his worth and has caught the eye of Europe's elite teams now

ROMELU LUKAKU STATS 2019-20 Appearances: 23 Minutes: 1,931 Goals: 16 Goals per 90 minutes: 0.83 Assists: 3 Advertisement

LAUTARO MARTINEZ STATS 2019-20 Appearances: 23 Minutes: 1,755 Goals: 14 Goals per 90 minutes: 0.66 Assists: 1 Advertisement

Arguing their individual qualities against those other duos is one for another day but as a pairing, their effectiveness is central to Inter's hopes of stopping Juventus from winning a ninth consecutive Serie A title.

Not since Jose Mourinho was in the dugout during their Treble-winning season in 2009-10, have Inter got their hands on the prized Scudetto.

With Conte delivering a blast from the past with two up top, this is their best chance in a decade to dethrone their bitter rivals over in Turin.

Deploying Nicolo Barella and Stefano Sensi behind Martinez and Lukaku is incredibly smart management. The creativity is overflowing in a side that has fallen flat just once, when they got stage fright against Juventus at the San Siro on October 6 and they lost 2-1.

When the sides meet again on Conte's return to Turin on March 1 all eyes will be on him, but also on the strikers at both ends of the pitch. A potentially destructive front three of Dybala, Ronaldo and Higuain against a strike partnership for the ages in blue and black.

Conte is attempting to dethrone Juventus with a strike duo that are the envy of Europe's elite

Close on and off the pitch, the two strikers are developing an incredible level of understanding

Italian newspapers have wasted no time in fawning over the Inter pair as they continue to show no signs of slowing down, no signs of rolling over to a Juventus side used to getting their own way.

Gazzetta dello Sport have hailed their 'extraordinary understanding' while Corriere dello Sport described them as 'Giants' at the midway point in the season, with Inter top of the league on goal difference.

'I always say it doesn't matter who scores, as long as the team gets the goal and wins,' Lautaro told Sky Sport Italia recently.

'We work every day to help create that unity off the field and on it. Romelu is a great guy and we really get along, we both care more about the team than our own goals.

At Manchester United, Lukaku was tasked with things beyond his skill-set. At Inter, Conte has partnered his star summer signing with a player who can do all the running and the link-up needed. Lukaku can focus on finishing.

And there does not appear, on the face of it at least, to be a jealousy between the pair of them. If anything, they are growing as close off the pitch as they are on it.

They are perfect foil for each other with the pace of Martinez complimenting Lukaku's strength

After a recent victory, having returned to the dressing room to get changed and get home, it emerged the two of them were wearing the exact same dog jumper - cue a perfect photo opportunity that left fans in stitches.

They are perfect foil for one another. While Lukaku has more goals and is taking more of the headlines, those who make the case for Martinez being the more important player would have a strong argument.

There is a reason why Manchester United, Manchester City, Barcelona and Real Madrid are keeping tabs on the 22-year-old Argentine. Assertions that he could take the attacking load for club and country once Lionel Messi or Sergio Aguero retires is not to be underestimated.

He is tireless, a famished dog of a player that is a dream forward for someone like Conte, particularly when partnered by a physical powerhouse like Lukaku.

Talk of a potential exit has, strangely, not been dismissed as ridiculous by Inter, fueling the possibility that this burgeoning partnership could be ripped apart in the summer.

'If Lautaro wants to leave we will evaluate the situation,' Inter CEO Giuseppe Marotta told Italian outlet Sports Mediaset.

Juventus are banking on Paulo Dybala (left) and Cristiano Ronaldo (right) to win them the title

'We are Inter and we don't necessarily have to sell to anyone. We want to grow up with important young players like Lautaro and Romelu Lukaku. If Lautaro wants to continue with us, we will be happy. He is with us right now.'

Unfortunately for Juventus, they do not look set to be dismantled before then as they face their biggest threat to a title in years.

Maurizio Sarri's side have lost just once in the league this season, away to Lazio, and will remain confident they have the psychological edge after that first win over Inter.

But goal difference could play a factor and even with Ronaldo hotting up - he scored his 56th career hat-trick in a win over Cagliari last time out - no one is looking beyond those wearing black and blue in Milan.

Forget the summer and a potential exit for Martinez, if this 'bromance', as they call it, ends Juventus' dominance and delivers Inter's first league title in a decade, they may well convince rivals that strike partnerships are firmly back in fashion.