Looking at the current defensive woes faced by his team, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola is looking desperate to bring in a world class defender to pair with John Stones at the back. Currently heading his priority list is the Italian defender Leonardo Bonucci. The 29-year-old defender is presently hailed as one of the best in the world, and Pep Guardiola has already declared him as his “favourite”.
The Juventus centre-back is absolutely flattered by the praise and has dubbed Guardiola as “the best manager in the world”. The Italian has also not concealed his love for the Premier League.
Currently, Manchester City’s defence looks to be at sixes and sevens. With the mainstay for the defensive duties being John Stones, the England International is having a hard time with not much of a support from his colleagues.
With his team in the doldrums, it is the most appropriate time for City boss Guardiola to sign an in-form defender, who can share the load of defensive duties with Stones. At present, the frontrunner for this position is the Bianconeri centre-back.
Although Leonardo Bonucci has signed a new contract with the Turin club that expires in 2021, recent fallouts with the manager Max Allegri has placed the 29-year-old player’s future at Juventus in a bit of jeopardy. Manchester City will look to take advantage of the situation and make him wear the club colours as soon as possible.
Leonardo Bonnuci, along with his defensive qualities, is also known for his pin-point passing of the ball. Although not very strong in the air, the Azzurri central defender packs a punch when it comes to restricting opponent players from scoring goals.
He has been criticised in the past for his weak tackling abilities, but he makes amends with his physical strength to snatch away the ball.
Reportedly, the current Premier League leaders Chelsea are also in pursuit of the defender. Manchester City are looking to leave no stone unturned in order to include the Italian centre-back in their squad. They believe that this will make their team stronger than ever.
Bonucchi says that he has been watching English games of late and says that it fascinates him a lot. He says that the passionate fans make it worthy to play for the team.
Looking at the current scenario, if the move happens, then it will bring a lot of positives for Bonucci as well as Manchester City. Now it is to be seen whether Juventus lets go of the mercurial defender or not.
