The Italian defender says he could’ve accepted his team-mate leaving for Real Madrid but not another Serie A side
Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini believes Leonardo Bonucci’s decision to join AC Milan in 2017 was illogical.
Bonucci made a stunning switch from Juve to Milan in 2017, only to return to Turin the following year.
Chiellini, 35, felt his fellow defender’s move made no sense, saying he would have understood if Bonucci had decided to join a club like Real Madrid.
“His year at Milan was different, a choice certainly wrong because he was not made at peace with himself, therefore not in a lucid way,” he wrote in his autobiography, Io, Giorgio, via Corriere dello Sport.
“Leo was shaken for a thousand reasons. I was sorry because everything happens in the weeks when we didn’t see each other.
“I’m sure if it had happened at another time I would have made him think about staying. Like [Antonio] Conte in that July 2014, they always leave when I’m not there.”
Chiellini added: “With Leo I spoke that everything was already established…something without logic from start to finish.
“I could have understood if he had gone to Real Madrid, but to that Milan? Fortunately, fate wanted everything to come back in order.”
Bonucci had played 34 games in all competitions for Juve this season, which has been suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic.
While Bonucci didn’t stay long at AC MIlan, the veteran defender believes the move helped mature him on and off the pitch.
“If I think back to the Leonardo I was two or three years ago, I would not have made certain decisions,” he said in late 2019.
“The decision to go to Milan, as everyone knows, made me mature as a man. It was a big chance and perhaps too big for the man I was at the time.
“The young Leonardo was a bit too fiery. When you meet someone who gives you good advice for your own, you must have the humility to listen.”
Goal recently confirmed Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is eager to bring Bonucci to the Etihad Stadium next season but Juventus currently have no intention of letting the 33-year-old depart.
The Bianconeri managed to tie Bonucci down to fresh terms that run until 2024, with the centre-back now expected to see out the rest of his career with the reigning Serie A champions.
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