Leonardo Bonucci's Close Call with Guardiola at Manchester City
Leonardo Bonucci says Pep Guardiola left him “wobbling” over a move to Manchester City – but in the end, he simply could not walk away from Juventus.
The former Italy defender, who retired in 2024 and now works on Roberto Mancini’s Azzurri staff ahead of Nations League games against Belgium, Turkiye and France, revealed just how close he came to joining Guardiola in the Premier League at the height of his powers.
Guardiola’s charm offensive
Those years around 2014 and 2015 were Bonucci at full flight. A ball-playing centre-back with the passing range of a deep-lying playmaker, he had become the heartbeat of a Juventus side that dominated Serie A and pushed deep into Europe.
“The 2014/15 and 2015/16 seasons allowed me to achieve incredible heights in my career,” Bonucci told World Soccer Agency, via Sport Mediaset. He reached the Champions League final in 2015, starting against Barcelona in Berlin, then stepped onto the Euro 2016 stage, scoring past Manuel Neuer before Italy went out to Germany on penalties. “It was the start of my career truly taking off,” he said.
Those performances didn’t go unnoticed in Manchester.
Guardiola, a long-time admirer of defenders who can build from the back, identified Bonucci as an ideal fit. The City manager made his move, and he did not hide how badly he wanted him.
“For my style of football, the coach who is best suited and most appreciates playing out from the back is Guardiola,” Bonucci explained. “So he courted me for many weeks, and let me tell you, being courted by Guardiola is not like any other experience.”
The pressure built as the talks dragged on.
“You really do start to wobble,” he admitted. The timing made it even more intense: “It was tough taking place during the Euros, where I had to be concentrated, but even during the tournament there were some discussions.”
The Premier League. Guardiola. A leading role in a new project. On paper, it looked irresistible.
Torn between a dream and a destiny
Bonucci’s Juventus story began in 2010 and, with a brief detour to Milan in 2017/18, ran all the way to 2023. By the time City came calling, he was not just a defender in Turin; he was part of the club’s identity.
That is what stopped him.
“As far as I was concerned, the idea of leaving Juventus made my heart ache,” he said. One day he would picture himself under Guardiola at City – “oh wonderful, the Premier League and Guardiola” – and the next he would snap back to the club that had shaped him: “then the day after I remembered that I had always dreamed of Juventus.”
Juventus, for their part, dug their heels in. Massive offers arrived, but the club told him he would not be sold, no matter how big the bid. The message was clear: he was central to their future.
Away from the pitch, life was even more complicated. Bonucci’s young son Matteo had been diagnosed with a serious illness at just two years old, a situation that weighed heavily on every decision.
“After the Euros, I spoke to Juve,” Bonucci recalled. “Matteo’s illness and the fact I didn’t feel 100 per cent about leaving Juve, especially as the club told me that I would not be sold even if an incredible offer came in, made it a normal decision to stay.”
The pull of Guardiola’s football remained strong. “Working with Guardiola would've allowed me to have even greater experience, technically and tactically,” he admitted. But the emotional equation, and the stance of Juventus, settled it. Bonucci stayed where his heart already was.
A different break from Juventus
Ironically, Bonucci did eventually leave Juventus – not for Manchester, but for Milan in 2017. That move, he stressed, came from a very different place.
His switch to San Siro followed a notorious row with coach Max Allegri, a rupture that knocked him off the path he thought he was on.
“I had lost my focus with what happened in 2017,” he said. “I was about to become a pillar of Juventus, that was the path I was meant to be on.”
He lasted just one season at Milan before returning to Turin once Allegri had gone, restoring the old BBC axis with Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli and reclaiming his role at the heart of the defence.
The chance to work under Guardiola, to test himself in the Premier League and add a new chapter to an already rich career, never came back. Bonucci knows what he turned down. He also knows why he did it.
In the end, the defender built for Guardiola chose the club he had always dreamed of instead.
