Leonardo Bonucci's Close Call with Manchester City

Leonardo Bonucci has revealed just how close he came to walking away from Juventus at the height of his powers – and how Pep Guardiola almost pulled him to Manchester City.

The former Italy defender, who retired in 2024 and now works on Roberto Mancini’s Azzurri staff ahead of Nations League clashes with Belgium, Turkiye and France, admitted the lure of Guardiola and the Premier League shook his resolve.

‘Being courted by Guardiola is not like any other experience’

Bonucci’s peak years in Turin put him on every elite manager’s radar, but one admirer stood out.

“The 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons allowed me to achieve incredible heights in my career,” he told World Soccer Agency, via Sport Mediaset. “I played in the Champions League Final against Barcelona in 2015, then a year later was at the European Championship, losing to Germany on penalties after I scored past Manuel Neuer. It was the start of my career truly taking off.”

Those performances, built on his ability to step out from the back and hit quarterback-style passes, made him a perfect fit for Guardiola’s footballing vision. City moved.

“For my style of football, the coach who is best suited and most appreciates playing out from the back is Guardiola. So he courted me for many weeks, and let me tell you, being courted by Guardiola is not like any other experience.

You really do start to wobble, and it was tough taking place during the Euros, where I had to be concentrated, but even during the tournament there were some discussions.”

The Premier League, the chance to work under Guardiola, a new challenge abroad – it was all on the table.

Torn between a dream and a destiny

Bonucci’s Juventus story began in 2010 and ran, with one brief interruption, all the way to 2023. It was more than a contract; it was an identity.

Before his short and turbulent spell at Milan in 2017/18, he had already turned down a prestigious, lucrative proposal from Manchester City. Emotion, not money, tipped the scales.

“As far as I was concerned, the idea of leaving Juventus made my heart ache. Some days I’d say to myself, oh wonderful, the Premier League and Guardiola, but then the day after I remembered that I had always dreamed of Juventus.”

The club’s stance matched his instincts. Juventus resisted major offers, making it clear they would not cash in even for an extraordinary fee.

Life off the pitch added another layer. Bonucci’s young son Matteo was diagnosed with a serious illness at just two years old, a moment that reshaped his priorities.

“After the Euros, I spoke to Juve. Matteo’s illness and the fact I didn’t feel 100 per cent about leaving Juve, especially as the club told me that I would not be sold even if an incredible offer came in, made it a normal decision to stay.

“Working with Guardiola would've allowed me to have even greater experience, technically and tactically.”

So the move that seemed almost inevitable, stylistically and sporting-wise, never happened. Family, loyalty and the pull of the black-and-white shirt kept him in Turin.

A different rupture, a different exit

Ironically, Bonucci did end up leaving Juventus not for England, but for Milan in 2017 – and not for tactical evolution, but after a breakdown in relations with coach Max Allegri.

The transfer, one of the shocks of that summer, lasted only a year. Once Allegri was out of the picture, Bonucci returned to the club where he had built his reputation alongside Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli in one of the most iconic defensive trios of the modern era.

“I had lost my focus with what happened in 2017. I was about to become a pillar of Juventus, that was the path I was meant to be on.”

He never did get to test himself under Guardiola’s command or feel the weekly grind of the Premier League. Instead, he doubled down on the path he had chosen: a decade of dominance with Juventus and a central role in Italy’s Euro 2020 triumph at Wembley.

The what-if will always linger. But for Bonucci, the answer was written in black and white.