Rumours: Manchester City consider €60 million bid for Leonardo Bonucci
Manchester City are seriously considering a €60 million bid for Italian defender Leonardo Bonucci, according to extremely reliable sources in England. City have already had a €45 million bid rejected by Italian champions Juventus and are said to be preparing a new substantially improved offer.
Bonucci had an excellent Euro 2016 campaign in what was an impressive and resolute run for the Italians, showing he can tackle, spread the ball across the pitch and even convert high-pressure penalties. With, new City manager Pep Guardiola being a long time fan for the Italian international, this news comes as no surprise.
The former Bayern boss called Bonucci was one of his 'all-time favourite players' when his team were taking on Juventus in the Champions League and has been following the maverick Italian defender for several years. His ability to play gorgeous balls out from defence is a quality Pep is especially interested in and an attribute that will be crucial in helping him stamp his style of play on the Premier League side.
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Guardiola is reported to be keen to sign a world class ball playing center back, because of the injury issues of Vincent Kompany and the mixed performances Elaquim Mangala has had since joining from Porto. The Citizens had thought they had a deal in place with Athletic Bilbao player Aymeric Laporte to join them in a £39 million pound deal but he seemingly pulled the plug on them at the last minute and decided to stay at his club and sign a 4-year contract renewal instead.
That may well turn out to be a blessing in disguise for City if they manage to sign one of the undisputed best center halves in the world in Bonucci, but the Italian champions Juventus will be in no mood to let him leave.
Juve have already turned down enormous sums of money for Paulo Dybala and are at the moment holding onto Paul Pogba despite offers in the excess of a 100 million euros. They are very determined in retaining their best players and winning the Champions League within the next two to three years.
City's latest bid for Bonucci, the now 29-year-old will probably represent their best offer, and while it would be an extremely considerable amount of money, Juve might still want to hang onto their star defender. Whether Guardiola could personally intervene and convince the Italian to swap Turin for Manchester, it remains to be seen.