Leonardo Bonucci has revealed that he came close to joining Roma during the 2023-24 season, but the transfer ultimately collapsed after backlash from supporters.
Speaking to Luca Toni on Prime Video Sport the former Juventus defender explained that José Mourinho personally pushed to bring him to the capital as Roma looked to strengthen their defence midway through the campaign.
“Mourinho called me more than once,” Bonucci said. “He told me to keep training hard because I would be playing against Cremonese on January 3. We had reached an agreement around December 23.”
However, once news of the proposed move became public over the Christmas holidays, the reaction from sections of the Roma fanbase changed the situation.
“The transfer became the talk of the town. Some fans exaggerated the story and Mourinho, who thought Roma would renew his contract because of the love the fans showed him chose to go in another direction without even calling me. I was disappointed,” Bonucci admitted.
The move never materialized, and Bonucci later thanked Mourinho for how events unfolded.
“I saw him again in Istanbul and thanked him for not taking me to Rome. It gave me the chance to discover a beautiful city,” he said.
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