Reports: Chelsea set to beat Real Madrid to signing of €77 million superstar

What’s the story?

We’d earlier reported that Real Madrid were keen to strengthen their defence by signing up the €77 million-rated Juventus superstar Leonardo Bonucci but it appears they may face stiff competition from Premier League champions Chelsea for the Italian’s signature. He was, of course, Antonio Conte’s bedrock in that impregnable Juventus defence and the two share a wonderful understanding.

With both Conte and Zinedine Zidane strong personalities (as with Roman Abrahamovic and Florentino Perez), this saga might just take over the summer transfer window. As with the Bonucci to Real Madrid rumour, this comes from the Sun, but despite the dubious origins, this one actually makes some sense.

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Bonucci, at 30, might strike you as a bit too old to be breaking any world records (any move for the great Italian will surely break the record transfer for a defender) but he is at his absolute prime right now, and he’d be a perfect fit for the middle of Conte’s favoured three at the back system.

His distribution skills are immensely underrated – what he’d been doing at Juventus alongside Andrea Pirlo rather quietly came to the forefront in Euro 2016 when without Pirlo, Conte resorted to having Bonucci distributing the ball long, and precisely, and he was the hub of that rather impressive Azzurri team that lacked a lot of its regulars.

The heart of the matter

Conte is said to be ready to offer a 4-year contract worth £115,000-a-week and that along with the comfort levels Bonucci has with his old boss might just convince the Italian to shift base. It was, after all, Conte who made Bonucci a household name – partnering him with Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini and making Juventus’ and Italy’s defence the best in the world, and him the best defender.

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Author’s Take

Leonardo Bonucci is arguably the best defender in the world and he will improve any team that he walks into. While Conte has used David Luiz brilliantly in the centre of a three-man-defence that’s also included Gary Cahill and Cesar Azilicueta, he will consider Bonucci an upgrade – if not for his far superior defensive skills then for the reliability of his possession.

With Chelsea facing European competition once again, he’ll need a bigger squad too and will want to rotate his back-three with some experienced personnel (dropping Luiz or Cahill to the bench ensures that). The only question is whether Conte can tempt the man – who has openly stated his love for Turin multiple times – to shift base to rainy London.