Why Leonardo Bonucci turned down Manchester United transfer for Juventus

Standard Sport23 October 2018

Leonardo Bonucci has revealed he turned down a move to Manchester United because Juventus is his "home."

The Italy international defender spoke about United's summer interest ahead of Juve's Champions League game at Old Trafford on Tuesday.

Bonucci, 31, returned to Turin in the summer after spending just one season at AC Milan following a £35.1million move in 2017 despite an approach from United.

"Yes," Bonucci told the Telegraph, when asked if he received an offer from Manchester United at the end of last season.

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"Basically there have been some possibilities both with Manchester City and with Manchester United. With Manchester City when I received that offer (in 2016) I actually talked to the club, I talked to Juventus and we decided that it was good for me to stay and to keep on winning with Juventus.

"This year when I was told there was a possibility to go back home, to come back to Juventus I just stopped listening to any other offers and I decided to come back here.

"I feel at home. Here I really do my best, I just push myself to the maximum and that's something at Milan I really didn't manage, I didn't succeed to achieve and that was probably because in my heart I had already made the decision that I wanted to go back home.

"The decision was not made until June but it's true that I had this feeling inside me. So when my agent told me there was a tangible opportunity to go back I just stopped listening to anyone telling me what to do, I stopped listening to any kind of suggestion and I just said 'OK, let's go home'."

Additional reporting by the Press Association.

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