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Well, the transfer season in Serie A is starting to heat up now that the World Cup is over.
Reports are coming out that Leonardo Bonucci, who AC Milan brought in last summer from Juventus, has put in a transfer request amid rumored interest from teams in the Premier League and PSG.
Lucci has told AC Milan about Bonucci's desire to leave the club. An important offer could arrive. The captain would only stay with a serious and ambitious project. The ball is in Elliott's court now @SpazioMilan
— Vito Angelè (@VitoAngele) July 17, 2018
Bonucci has been rumored to be linked with a move to both Manchester United and Manchester City, while French club PSG is also rumored to be interested in a move for the defender. All of the above teams have the money available to launch expensive bids, although almost none of them would equal the €42 million that Milan paid to Juventus to land the defender’s signature.
As for staying at the club, Bonucci reportedly wants to see “ambition” from the new owners while he ponders his future at the club. Ambition usually means spending lots of money on new players, as up until this point the club has only brought in players that were out of contract and almost every “new” purchase the club is linked with usually involves one or more key players to be leaving to free up cash for a deal.
With rumored uncertainty surrounding the future of Gennaro Gattuso, this is a bad time for the captain to be interested in leaving, but it is what it is. A move to PSG to join up with his former Juventus teammate Gianluigi Buffon could be in the works for Bonucci, or he could be headed to Manchester, as United has already allowed Daley Blind to return to the Netherlands and will be looking to upgrade their defense in order to mount a charge on the Champions League and English Premier League, while their cross-town rivals Manchester City will also be looking to add to their squad to repeat as champions of England and make a run at the Champions League title.
If European football is out of the question for this upcoming season and/or next season, then a move like this would be sadly predictable. Bonucci was an important veteran presence at the club, and he will be missed if he does leave. However, if players want to leave, it does the team no good to hang on to them and make a situation turn ugly, as those kinds of issues can drag a close-knit locker room into disarray quickly.
Bonucci can be replaced, and perhaps should be replaced soon, as he’s 31 years old, but it still isn’t a good day when a team’s captain requests a move away from the club.