Juventus boss Massimiliano Allegri has spoken out over Leonardo Bonucci’s future amid speculation the centre-back could be on his way to Chelsea in the summer transfer window.
Bonucci is widely regarded as one of Europe’s top defenders after seven seasons with Juve but the 30-year-old is being heavily linked with a move to the Premier League following a bust-up with Allegri back in February.
Allegri decided to drop Bonucci from Juve’s Champions League last-16 clash with Porto after the Italy intentional was seen disrespecting his manager during the side’s 4-1 win over Palermo.
Manchester City and Chelsea are eyeing moves for Bonucci but Allegri has dealt the Premier League giants a transfer blow, insisting that he sees the player as the ‘future leader of the Juventus dressing room’.
‘At that particular moment it was the right thing to do,’ Allegri told Sky Italia regarding his decision to drop Bonucci.
‘There are times when you should turn a blind eye and times when you have to have your eyes wide open and in that moment Leo was wrong.
‘I was wrong too, and in fact I punished myself and Leo was left out. It was an important and decisive game and even if we’d lost we’d have had the strength to win 10 more.
‘We played a good game against Porto and then after two days Bonucci came back, because he’s an important player, an extraordinary player.
‘And above all he has to understand that he’ll be the future leader of the Juventus dressing room.’
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