Manchester United’s alleged pursuit of Leonardo Bonucci has made a bit of a return on Wednesday thanks to Gazzetta dello Sport, who believe the Red Devils’ interest in the Milan defender is still ‘alive’.
Accompanied by both Manchester City and Chelsea in the list of keen parties, José Mourinho’s club are one of the few capable of affording the player’s transfer fee and his wage package.
Bought for €40m from Juventus last year, Gazzetta believe a base amount of €35m for the 31-year-old should get negotiations rolling.
Hardly a large amount in today’s market for an experienced and resilient centre-back, who would come with €7.5m/year wages post tax, which equates to around £130k/week (also post tax).
Once again, not the end of the world for Premier League clubs these days.
The official line in Milan is that Bonucci isn’t going anywhere, but when a club has a price to start negotiations at, that seems like more of a proud facade than anything else.
If José Mourinho has indeed asked his board to get it done, they’re certainly taking their time over it.
