Juventus FC star Leonardo Bonucci has given his strongest hint yet that he’s keen to play in the Premier League next season.
Bonucci played superbly for Juventus in the 3-0 win over Barcelona on Tuesday and kept the likes of Messi, Suarez and Neymar at bay.
The Italian defender is being linked with a £60m move to the Premier League with Chelsea FC and Manchester City the favorites to land him.
Bonucci told So Foot:
"‘It fascinates me. When I can, I watch English games, and not only for the quality of the players on display.‘I’m hot-headed, and I love the passion that exudes from their packed stands.‘It’s for that kind of thing that I’m the first on the training pitch and the last to return [to] the changing room.’"
The 29-year-old had a falling out with Juventus manager Allegri and was even dropped for a couple of games. While he’s back playing now, it seems likely Bonucci will leave if Allegri stays at Juventus next season.
His comments about the Premier League are a big hint that he’s eager to leave Juventus in search of greener pastures.
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His comments about ‘packed stands’ is also interesting as perhaps he’s tired of playing in half-empty stadiums against teams like Udinese and Crotone.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte has worked with him before when he managed Bonucci at Juventus for three seasons. It’s believed that Conte is eager to improve on his defence for next season.
As a Chelsea fan I would love to see Bonucci play for the Blues next season with the likes of David Luiz, Gary Cahill, and Azpilicueta. But, I don’t see how he fits in the three-man defence. Luiz has done superbly in the central role so Bonucci would have to be shifted out wider to the left or right centre back roles.
Additionally, Chelsea have Kurt Zouma and Nathan Ake on the bench with the latter not being able to get a game. Adding Bonucci to the mix would further reduce both of the youngsters’ playing time.
Chelsea are well stocked in central defenders and the main need for Antonio Conte is to sign one or two wing-backs. Chelsea currently have no wing-backs on the bench who can replace Marcos Alonso or Victor Moses. When Moses was injured recently, Conte had to change the formation to a 3-5-2 moving Azpilicueta into the wing-back role where he struggled to get forward. Pedro has also been made to play as a wing-back on occasion too.
So Chelsea are in dire need of signing some wing-backs as reinforcements for next season so the signing of Bonucci would be a luxury signing. It’s not needed but it would be nice to have him anyway.
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I believe Manchester City’s Pep Guardiola will be more likely to sign him given their defensive woes this season.