'I could have joined Man Utd but I wanted to come home': Leonardo Bonucci on his ties to Juventus and the art of defending

Leonardo Bonucci could easily have been in the home dressing room at Old Trafford as he prepares for Tuesday’s momentous Champions League tie. Manchester United wanted him, as, by the way, did Manchester City a couple of years ago.

But when it came to leaving AC Milan at the end of last season there was only one place he wanted to go. He wanted to go “home”.

So Bonucci will line up for Juventus and, at Continassa, the Italian club’s stunning new training ground close to the Allianz Stadium, he tells Telegraph Sport about that remarkable return, and his equally astonishing departure the year before, about the art of defending and about the burning desire to win the Champions League.

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The 31-year-old comes across as extremely thoughtful and attentive and as he talks there is an eye-catching tattoo on the inside of his right forearm. Written in English it reads: “Dear God, I wanna take a minute not to ask for anything from you but to simply say thank you for all I have”.

“I had that tattoo after the birth of my children,” Bonucci explains. “Basically when you get married you start searching for stability and that stability was given by my wife (Martina) and by my kids (Matteo and Lorenzo) so I felt really satisfied and rewarded. Apart from realising my dream as a football player I had also obtained what I wanted in life.”

Except, in 2016, Matteo fell extremely ill and had to undergo emergency surgery with Bonucci even considering quitting football. “Especially when we had problems with Matteo’s health, when he fell ill - I did not ask for anything,” Bonucci says, touching the tattoo. “I talked to God and I just told him ‘it’s up to you, it’s your decision’ and God listened to me and Matteo was able to start a second life.”

It would be too trite to say Bonucci is now enjoying a “second life” back at Juventus but it is a fresh start at least – even if United also came calling when it became clear that his shock move to Milan was not working out.

“Basically there have been some possibilities both with Manchester City and with Manchester United,” Bonucci explains. “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. And 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.”

So there was an offer from United at the end of last season? “Yes,” says Bonucci, in English. But there was no chance of you going there once Juventus were interested? “No,” he says, again in English, before breaking back into Italian.

“I feel at home,” he says before candidly adding: “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’.”

So why did he leave in the first place after such remarkable career – six league titles, two Champions League finals - at the heart of Europe’s most formidable defence? “At that time I made a decision driven by pride and I was upset by a specific situation,” Bonucci says, alluding to an apparent row between himself and Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri. “And so I was not myself any more and I decided to leave. Then with the passing of time I realised that I had probably had the wrong attitude and so those expectations that I believed were not met, well it was not actually like that. So I changed my mind.”

That was an honest response, I say. “Thank you,” Bonucci replies, in English, adding in Italian: “Well it was obviously a tough decision because not everybody would have accepted to come back and to admit a mistake like I did. I was also lucky because I was made welcome and accepted again by our president, by our coach and by the whole dressing room. So I decided that I had to run this risk because it was worth taking and overcoming all the possible hurdles with the support of my family and with Juventus itself. And that is what happened in the end. That is what the tattoo says.”

Bonucci pauses and points to another tattoo, under his left bicep. “Per aspera ad astra,” it reads, in Latin. “Throw hardship to the stars”.

Some players teased him on his return but, with others, he wanted to speak to them face-to-face and explain. “I wanted to clarify and better explain the reasons that were behind the decision because they had told me they had not understood why I had wanted to leave. I told them that I probably could have been less proud at that time and, I confess, I probably had the wrong approach, the wrong attitude,” Bonucci says, knowing he also had to win around Juventus’ fans. “Certainly the supporters were probably the most sceptical of all because they felt betrayed by my decision,” Bonucci says. “But I am really trying to do my best both on and off the pitch and to prove, to really demonstrate that being a player at Juventus is not just about wearing this jersey. It goes beyond that so I will always do my best to convince them that I am worthy of it.”

It has been an unbeaten start to the season with 10 straight wins, with six clean sheets, in all competitions before the 1-1 draw at the weekend against Genoa and it is fascinating to hear Bonucci talk about what being a defender means.

“Defending is definitely an art,” he says, explaining how he has learnt from Giorgio Chiellini and Andrea Barzagli, the other feted members of the original ‘BBC’. “What I have done is ‘stealing’ by observing them with my eyes what they were doing because they are icons of world football and for someone like me who became a defender quite late it was vital to watch them, learn from them,” Bonucci says. Having started out as a midfielder – he could have been the ball-playing centre-half Jose Mourinho craves at United - allows Bonucci to “set the play” but his “fundamental” role is clear: stop the opposition from scoring.

“I defend my goal as if it were my home,” Bonucci explains. “I do my best to defend it and not to allow anyone to score goals or penetrate that. It’s true. Defence for me is so important because I do not want anyone to trespass and invade my property because that goal is my property. So that is one of the secrets that has allowed Juventus to win seven Scudetto in a row.”

And, finally, win the Champions League? “It is our main goal, our main objective,” Bonucci says with the first target to win Group H ahead of United and Valencia. “It’s true that they (United) are going through a critical moment with Mourinho but apart from that they all know what they want and how to achieve that,” Bonucci says. “What we expect from Mourinho is to defend from the start, as he usually does, and then to counter-attack.”

Bonucci was not the only surprise signing Juventus made last summer.

“Cristiano Ronaldo’s arrival here at Juventus has been fundamental,” he says. “He plays a crucial role because he helps our whole club grow a lot – the players, the club and certainly it was fundamental because it asked us to do something more: to raise the bar, basically, and we can also see that with the organisation and with the contact with the fans. So we have all improved – starting with the players, going through the club and to the supporters themselves.”

There will also be a reunion with a former Juventus team-mate in Paul Pogba. “I talked to him a week ago and he told us that he is waiting for us in Manchester,” Bonucci says. “I will be pleased to see him but we will have to be very careful because it won’t be an easy game at all. He’s one of the best midfielders in the world along with (Luka) Modric and (Miralem) Pjanic. I have played with him, he’s a great guy and we always got on really well and I only want the best for him – but not against us on Tuesday night!”