On July 12th, former Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci, in an episode of the podcast ‘Passa dal Bsmt’, discussed topics including Juventus.
Talking about leaving Juventus
Bonucci: “My first meeting with Juventus’ sporting director, Federico Guntolli, who had just taken up his position, he told me, ‘Hey, you’re fired, you’re not in the team’s plans.’ At first, I thought it was a joke for our initial encounter, but he was serious.”
“I played over 500 games for Juventus, to be treated like this… Every training session I took seriously. I don’t know what led to this decision regarding me.”
“I felt it was about power struggles, but when it all really happened, I was at a loss… especially when your whole career revolves around Juventus and ends like this.”
Talking about suing Juventus
Bonucci: “Anger influenced my decisions, anger drove me to use legal means against Juventus, but when I cooled down, I asked myself, ‘What am I doing?’ So I put a stop to everything. I could have persisted until I won, but I didn’t want to burn bridges because I hope to maintain a good relationship with Juventus in the future.”
Talking about his favorite team
Bonucci: “Finishing my career at Juventus was my dream, Juventus is number one in my heart, I still believe I deserved a farewell ceremony. I placed Juventus above my wife and children, Juventus was more important than my happiness.”
“Joining AC Milan in 2017 wasn’t my intention, I just didn’t want to become a problem in the Juventus locker room, I didn’t want to hurt Juventus.”
Talking about celebrating goals against Juventus
Bonucci: “I did not disrespect anyone, I can’t understand such criticism from fans, transfers are decided between clubs, it’s not my fault. If I didn’t celebrate, wouldn’t that be disrespectful to the fans of my current team? Yet fans continue to insult my character, I never disrespected Juventus.”
