Manchester City ready £52M bid for Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci?
The Leonardo Bonucci rumors have reignited. Even so, supporters of Manchester City shouldn’t necessarily be excited with the prospect of the Juventus great coming to the Etihad.
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I have seen this drama before with Manchester City.
The Citizens criminally overpay for a player; that player turns out to be a flop; the club moves on to make the same mistake again and again.
The saga has gotten irksome, tiresome and some other negative adjective that ends with the suffix “-some.”
Still it goes on. This time, it might happen with Juventus veteran Leonardo Bonucci.
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The Manchester Evening News notes, citing Calcio Mercato, City are prepping an offer of £52 million for Bonucci. This comes after months of speculation linking the Sky Blues with Juve’s star center back.
MEN also is quick to mention the Italian powerhouse rebuffed a bid of that size for Bonucci from City the previous summer.
So why try with another bid of the exact same amount?
I don’t know.
I like Bonucci. However, I don’t like him for £52 million.
He undoubtedly still has some gas in the tank, as evidenced by his call-up to the Italian national team. He scored against the Netherlands in European World Cup qualifying yesterday.
Still, he will be 30 in May. His powers will start to decline sometime afterward. How soon? No one knows, but decline, they will.
I just don’t think the return on investment is there with the five-time Serie A winner. You pay this kind of money for years of star performances, not one, two or maybe even three seasons, especially for a defender about to enter the evening phase of his career. That’s why City gambles and shells out huge bids on young players like John Stones and Raheem Sterling.
I thought the whole idea behind Pep’s impending overhaul of the defense was to get younger. So let’s lose those wrinkles and creaky legs of aging players and not replace them with footballers who are about to wrinkle and get creaky legs in their own right.
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Besides, I think it more likely Bonucci will go to Chelsea before City. The Blues from London are reportedly offering £52 million. And Antonio Conte and Bonucci are familiar with each other from the time the former managed the latter for Gli Azzurri.
So Pep and company, let’s please pass on this one.