The Italian defender, who left Juventus for his new club in the summer after they paid around €40m, hasn’t had the best of times so far as the Rossoneri currently sit 8th in the league, 18 points of top.
As tends to be the case, Gazzetta dello Sport have picked up the rumour after it did the rounds in England, claiming that’s where it came from in the first place, and have now expanded on it.
While they don’t actively state that Manchester Cit are after Bonucci, they do reveal what’s going on down the player’s end, and there’s every chance he’d be interested in teaming up with Pep Guardiola if an offer ended up in front of him.
It’s not like he would get much competition at the Etihad, with Eliaquim Mangala and Nicolas Otamendi the two only fit defenders at the Spaniard’s disposal, but Gazzetta state his entourage recently dismissed the idea of a transfer in January.
Still eligible for a Champions League squad, having only played in the Europa League with AC Milan, the opportunity to return to the elite European competition could be very tempting, especially since he’s 30 and knows he might not get too many other chances going forward.
However, it could be difficult for any transfer to happen considering there’s little chance his current club would consider selling one of their marquee signings so soon after bringing him in.
Gazzetta describe the whole possibility as a ‘complicated operation’, and even more so considering we’re midway through the season.
Yet, despite this, they don’t say it’s impossible, expressing some strange optimism, almost as if they want it to happen.
As they explain: “This is how everything starts in the transfer market. An indiscretion at the end of December can become a negotiation in January, and a deal a few weeks later”.
