When Manchester City, under the direction of Pep Guardiola, made an offer to purchase Leonardo Bonucci in 2016, the former Italian star came dangerously close to breaking the record for the most expensive defender in the world.
I wasn’t too far away from Manchester City. “They made an offer to purchase me for approximately one hundred million United States dollars,” Bonucci stated to the Sun on January 2. “However, I talked with Juventus and decided to stay” .
Pep Guardiola took over as manager of Manchester City during the summer of 2016. Following the failure of the club to get Bonucci, the former coach of Barcelona and Bayern Munich requested that the club pay $62 million in order to acquire John Stones, another midfielder. While working for Manchester City for seven and a half years, Guardiola won a total of sixteen titles, including five Premier Leagues and one Champions League. Bonucci does not have any of these titles to his name.
Union Berlin defender Leonardo Bonucci gives an embrace to Union Berlin coach during the Bundesliga match against Eintracht Frankfurt on November 4, 2023 at An der Alten Forsterei Stadium in Berlin. The match was played in the Bundesliga. Publication: Reuters
During the match between Union Berlin and Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga on November 4, 2023 at An der Alten Forsterei Stadium in Berlin, defender Leonardo Bonucci gives a hug to the coach of Union Berlin. Publication: Reuters
In the event that the aforementioned move is completed, Bonucci will be the defender who holds the record for being the most expensive player in the world to this day. The current holder of this record is Josko Gvardiol, who made the move from Leipzig to Manchester City in the summer of 2013 for a fee of 99 million USD.
It was acknowledged by Bonucci that he enjoyed working with Guardiola. On the other hand, he does not feel any regret about the opportunity that he passed up eight years ago. “Being coached by Guardiola would be great, because it would allow me to improve, but I can’t complain,” Bonucci said further. Indeed, I have been awarded a great deal of trophies. I always follow my heart, and that is the reason why I continue to be a member of Juventus.
When Juventus was just getting started, Bonucci was a member of the club from 2010 to 2017. It was one year after he had rejected Man City that he made the transfer to Milan for a fee of 46 million USD. On the other hand, the Italian midfielder returned to Juventus in the year 2018. Eight Serie, four Italian Cups, five Italian Super Cups, and two Champions League finals were among the titles that Bonucci obtained while playing for “Old Lady” during the course of twelve seasons.
Bonucci, the summer of 2023 One year earlier than expected, Juventus terminated his contract. After he signed with Union Berlin, the 36-year-old defender made the decision to file a lawsuit against his previous club, claiming that they did not provide him with proper training conditions during the final months of his contract.
Bonucci was a member of Italy’s team that won Euro 2021 and advanced to the final of Euro 2012. After more than half a century of waiting, Italy finally won the championship against England in the final of Euro 2021. He equalized the score at 1-1 and successfully completed a penalty shootout, which resulted in Italy’s victory over England by a score of 3-2.