Man City and Chelsea line up January Bonucci bid

Manchester City and Chelsea are both lining up January bids for Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci, according to reports.

The Daily Star is reporting that Premier League duo Manchester City and Juventus are both considering a January swoop for Italian international centre-back Leonardo Bonucci.

The two sides were believed to be interested in the Juventus defender during the summer, but no move materialised and the 29-year-old remained with the Old Lady.

Bonucci is widely regarded as one of the very best defenders in the world and Juventus would be extremely keen to hang onto him.

So any bid for the former Inter Milan and Bari man would likely have to be a record fee for a defender – eclipsing the £50 million Paris Saint Germain spent to sign David Luiz from Chelsea in 2014 – in order for the Serie A champions to even consider selling one of their prized assets.

New Chelsea manager Antonio Conte tried all summer to sign a new centre-back, with bids for Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly and AC Milan’s Alessio Romagnoli failing, and the Blues instead ended up re-signing Luiz from PSG.

But Conte, who worked with Bonucci and Juventus and with the Italian national side, would love to sign the experienced defender.

City spent £47.5 million on John Stones this summer, but captain Vincent Komapny’s continued injury troubles could force manager Pep Guardiola back into the market.