City of Manchester to battle it out for AC Milan's Leonardo Bonucci

Add as a preferred source on Google

Bengaluru, June 29: The city of Manchester is set to make use of UEFA's ban on AC MIlan and have plotted to raid the Serie A giants for defender Leonardo Bonucci, according to reports.

UEFA stated that Milan will be excluded from participating in the Europe's top club competition for the next two seasons. Milan were tried for breaching Financial Fair Play rules last season with their €200million spending spree which capped off a period of club mismanagement with a total deficit of over €100m, compared to a limit of €30m granted by UEFA's financial regulations.

As a result, Milan will be forced to make some sales to comply with the FFP, similar to that of Paris-Saint Germain but will also serve a two season ban from UEFA competitions. Following this announcement, clubs have lined-up to lure players away from the Italian capital.

Manchester United have been looking for a solid center-back and Bonucci might be their answer with a significant lower cost than their other top targets. Toby Alderweireld and Jerome Boateng won’t cost any lower than £50million while the 31-year-old could be within budget.

Jose Mourinho has also been reported to put pressure on the board and sign a defender as soon as possible. Despite finishing second last season, Mourinho doesn’t put enough faith in Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo in that position.

However, United will face stern battle from their Manchester rivals as the defending Premier League champs also want to sign Bonucci. Pep Guardiola is highly concerned with the injury-plagued captain Vincent Kompany and would like a replacement for him.

Kompany has spent considerable time on the sidelines over the last two season and still doesn’t look fit enough. Although making it to Belgium’s World Cup squad for Russia, Kompany hasn’t featured in a single game. Bonucci will be the ideal replacement with his skills and experience matching that of Kompany.

After spending a trophy laden career spanning seven years with Juventus, Bonucci shockingly left the Old Lady for AC Milan last season.