The untold story of Leonardo Bonucci

Here are some facts you need to know about Leonardo Bonucci

Contents

Childhood Career Awards & Achievements Personal Life

Leonardo Bonucci is an Italian center-back born on 1 May 1987 in Viterbo, Italy. His father’s name is Claudio Bonucci and mother is Dorita Bonucci. He has two sons – Lorenzo Bonucci and Mateo Bonucci.

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Childhood

Bonucci started playing football with his friends in the Pianoscarano team. He then joined his local team, AS Viterbese, in 2000.

He used to play as a central midfielder or wing-back. But his coach, Carlo Perrone, inspired him to be a central defender when Leo was 16. At the age of 17, he was on the team’s bench in Serie C2.

In 2005, Inter Milan signed him for €40K to join the youth team.

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Career

In the 2005-06 season, Leonardo Bonucci won the Primavera Italian Cup with the Inter youth team. However, in January 2007, Bonucci was sold to FC Treviso.

During the 2007-08 season in Serie B, he made 27 appearances, scoring his first 2 professional goals despite the club’s very disappointing results.

Bonucci left FC Treviso in January 2009 and moved to AC Pisa, still on loan. He played 18 matches for the club and scored 1 goal, which came against AC Mantua.

His contract was acquired by Genoa CFC in the summer of 2009 and then moved directly to AS Bari as a co-owner for €2m.

Leo appeared in 38 matches and scored 1 goal, his first in the top flight. In June 2010 the club fully bought him for €8m.

In 2010, Bonucci joined Juventus for estimated at €15.5m. On 19 August 2010, he scored his first goal for the club in the 2011 Europa League play-offs against SK Sturm Graz.

On 29 August, he made his league debut against his former team AS Bari. He scored his first league goal for Juve against Udinese (0-4).

In 2013, he won his second consecutive scudetto with Juventus, being a major player in this achievement.

On 20 July 2017, the player moved to AC Milan for €42 million. Leonardo Bonucci was also appointed captain of the team since his debut with the new shirt against Škendija (6-0 win) in the first leg of the Europa League play-offs.

His salary at AC Milan was €8 million per season, making him the highest-paid player in Italy. On 6 January 2018, Leonardo scored his first goal for AC Milan against Crotone.

In 2018, Bonucci reunited with his friend Giorgio Chiellini in central defence after he expressed his wish to return to Turin.

Talking about his international duties, he was selected to participate in the 2010 World Cup as a central defender. In a friendly against Mexico, he scored his first international goal despite the 1-2 defeat of the reigning world champions.

Leonardo was called up for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, but only played the last match of the first round against Uruguay. Italy did not reach the Round of 16 as they did in 2010.

On Tuesday 18 November 2014, Bonucci was appointed captain of the Italian national team for the friendly match against Albania.

In a match against the Greeks, Bonucci made it into the top ten most appearances for the national team, surpassing former teammate Del Piero with 92 total appearances.