Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano has claimed that Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci contacted the club about a transfer this past summer.
The 29-year-old has established himself as one of the leading defenders in Europe through his performances for both Juventus and Italy over a number of years.
With multiple Serie A titles to his name and a runners-up Champions League finish in 2015, he has also secured his place as a hero with the Bianconeri supporters, but according to Soriano, he was willing to consider his options ahead of the start of this season.
“At the moment, there are a lot of players that want to play under Pep,” he told RAC1.
“The Italian central defender Bonucci wanted to play for him [Guardiola] and he called us.
“So I called the Juventus sporting director [Fabio Paratici], and he told me they didn’t want to sell. End of story.”
Given his importance to Massimiliano Allegri, it’s no surprise that Juve moved to dismiss City’s chances of signing Bonucci. Nevertheless, if true, it will be a blow to the Serie A giants for them to know that their influential leader is open to a departure, as they may now likely face a battle to keep the Italian ace at the club moving forward.
The appeal of playing for Pep Guardiola is obvious, as the former Barcelona and Bayern Munich coach has won countless trophies and continues to do it in a classy manner with regards to the way in which his teams play football.
Taking Soriano’s comments into consideration, it will now be interesting to see whether or not City revisit their interest in Bonucci in either January or next summer, and whether or not the former Bari defender still has the same interest in starting a new challenge in Manchester.