Will he be Kim Min-jae’s junior in his later years?
“Leonardo Bonucci (36, Union Berlin) is on the verge of joining Fenerbahçe,” Italian media outlet Football Italia reported on Aug. 8 (KST). According to the outlet, Bonucci has said goodbye to his Berlin teammates.
Bonucci is an Italian international center back who has spent most of his career in the Italian Serie A. Bonucci first came to prominence when he joined Juventus in 2010. He has excellent footwork and is a good distributor of the ball. He is also an intelligent fighter and tackler.
In 2017, he made a move that shook up Italy. He left Juventus to join rivals AC Milan in a surprise move. However, Bonucci returned to Juventus after just one year with the Bianconeri after one of his worst seasons.
Bonucci has also made a name for himself with the Italian national team. With a whopping 121 A-match caps, he has been dedicated to the Italian national team for a long time. To top it off, he led Italy to a stunning victory at Euro 2020 in 2021.
Bonucci parted ways with Juventus due to age, and his next stop was Berlin, Germany. However, he had one of his worst seasons in Berlin. Berlin finished fourth in the German Bundesliga last season and qualified for the UEFA Champions League (UCL) for the first time. But this season was different. The team has struggled to make it through the season in disappointing fashion. At one point during the season, they lost 12 consecutive official matches.
Bonucci has played just 10 matches in all competitions this season. He is set to part ways with Berlin early.
Initially, AS Roma appeared to be his next destination. However, the move to Rome fell through after Roma fans reacted negatively to the former Juventus man’s arrival. Instead, he is reportedly in talks with Fenerbahçe. Local German media have already reported that Bonucci’s move to Fenerbahçe has been finalized.
Fenerbahçe is well known as the former club of Kim Min-jae. Kim joined Fenerbahçe in 2021 after leaving Beijing Guoan in China. In his first season with the club, he showed tremendous defensive prowess and became a fan favorite. He then moved to Napoli ahead of the 2022-23 season. Fenerbahçe fans still miss him and have been posting comments on social media asking him to come back.
However, Kim has already arrived at Bayern Munich and will not be returning to Fenerbahçe. Instead, Italian legend Bonucci is expected to join the team.