Leonardo Bonucci announces his farewell to football. In an interview released to the club’s official channels on the occasion of the 500 appearances with the black and white shirt, the Juventus captain has revealed the date of his retirement. Looking at an image of the BBC (historic Juventus defensive trio formed by Barzagli, Bonucci and Chiellini) declared: “When I stop playing next year, an era of defense will end. It is a pride to have been there, I hope that one day many young players will take this historic Juventus defense as idols”.
“I’ve always tried to defend the Juve shirt, it’s a second skin”
During the interview, Bonucci also spoke about his own relationship with the black and white shirt: “Since the first day I’ve worn this shirt I tried first of all to be myself, for better or for worse. Everything I’ve done, I’ve done to defend a shirt that is like a second skin to me. I applied to the letter what it means to wear this shirt trying to first take from the others who were older than me what it meant to wear the Juventus shirt. After I have tried to be an example and driver of these valuesbut living this shirt for me was like living in a dream for twelve years.”
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“Difficult year at Milan, I did everything to return to Juventus”
In the summer of 2017, Bonucci surprisingly decided to leave Juventus and accept the court of Milan: “Returning was a choice made with the heart. Of course I knew that I was going to meet people who would not have understood, just as they had not understood the reason for my farewell. The year away from home was difficult, I did everything to come back“. Bonucci then analyzes the reasons for the separation: “It took me a while to convince even the most skeptical that my choice to leave was dictated by anger e from a decision not totally minewhile returning was a decision of pure love”. He then concludes: “Juventus has always been everything to me: staying against someone’s will was not right, I no longer felt as important as I had been before. The separation was necessary.”