Leonardo Bonucci opens up about his departure from Juventus.
He’s a legendary Italian defender. He came up through the Inter Milan youth ranks and had a solid career with AC Pisa, Genoa, Bari, and Juventus. His height, great defense, and build-up play made him even more valuable as a defender. He has won numerous trophies and represented Italy at the highest level at Euro 2020.
A living legend at Juventus. He’s been with the club for more than a decade and has won eight Italian Serie A titles during that time. He has scored 37 goals and provided 10 assists in 502 games for Juventus alone, according to soccer statistics site TransferMarkt.
This summer, however, he left Juventus. After terminating his contract with the club, Bonucci negotiated with German Bundesliga side Union Berlin and quickly reached an agreement. “The club has acquired Italian international Bonucci from Italian champions Juventus,” the club announced on its website on Monday.
Bonucci said: “For the first time in my career, I’m going abroad. It’s really special. Here I will continue to play at the highest level and hope that my experience will be of great benefit to the club. I’m looking forward to this new chapter in my career.”
Bonucci became a Union player. He later spoke to Football Italia about the circumstances that led him to leave Juventus. It was a shock. Despite being a legend at the club for over a decade, Bonucci didn’t feel he was treated as well as he deserved.
“I heard and read a lot of things that were not true. To tell this story, I have to start from the past. Since October last year, things have been said about the coach and the club’s treatment of me. Not everything is true. I was given the opportunity to sign a new contract. In February 2023, I heard about a more advanced situation. They told me that they no longer considered me part of the team. I didn’t have any talks with the club at the time. But in the media it was said that I would no longer be part of Juventus’ plans. That’s when I started to smell something,” he said.
“Juventus president Giuntoli came to my house on July 13 and insulted me. They told me that I would no longer be part of the team’s plans. They gave me the opportunity to stay at home for a few more days. But I felt that my presence in the locker room and on the field would hinder the growth of the players on the team. I didn’t train with the team anymore. I felt really exhausted and humiliated. I couldn’t do what I love most,” he added. 메이저놀이터