It has been confirmed by Leonardo Bonucci that he will be suing Juventus for allegedly not telling the truth about how they treated him after he was frozen out and subsequently sold over the summer. Bonucci is claiming that the Serie A club has not spoken the truth about how they treated him after he was frozen out and then sold over the summer.
Bonucci, a veteran defender who has won a number of championships with both his club and nation over the course of his long career, was relegated to a lesser role by Juventus during the pre-season. As a result, he did not travel to the United States for the tour in July and was forced to train separately from the first team.
And the 36-year-old player stated that he had made the “difficult decision” to sue the club for what he views to be “humiliating” treatment, which led to him playing over 500 times for the club and winning eight league titles.
“It’s a decision that’s been a long time coming and is due to the fact that I’ve read and heard a lot of things that aren’t true,” said Bonucci in an interview with Mediaset that was released on Thursday. “It’s a decision that’s been a long time coming,” said Bonucci.
According to Bonucci, who only recently signed a contract with Union Berlin, he was only informed in the middle of July that he was no longer in Juve’s plans. However, according to the club’s version of events, he was informed twice before, in October of last year and February of this year.
“I didn’t have any discussion with the club on that date, nor did I with the coach (Massimiliano Allegri), who called me into his office at the end of March… he told me in his way that I should quit at the end of June because I wanted to be a coach so I needed to speed things up,” Bonucci added. “He told me in his way that I should quit at the end of June because I wanted to be a coach so I needed to speed things up.”
“I told him that while I accepted his choice, I had every intention of continuing to play the sport at least to the conclusion of the European Championship in the next year. There was no further discussion after that point.”
The phrase “holding Juve back”
Bonucci asserts that he was then told by Juve after their final home match of the previous season that he would be fifth or sixth choice for the upcoming campaign, and that his response was “no problem.” Bonucci says that he was told this after Juve’s final home encounter of the previous season.
He claims that after that, he did not hear anything from the club until sporting directors Giovanni Manna and Cristiano Giuntoli paid him a visit at his home. During that visit, they informed him that his “presence in the dressing room was holding Juve back.”
According to Bonucci, “I am simply asserting my rights provided for in the collective bargaining agreement (of professional football).” This agreement states that players should be put in the condition to train with the team, regardless of any selection decisions, and have the right to acceptable physical preparation for the upcoming season.
“I was not provided with that… I was not allowed to go out onto the practice field with my own teammates or take part in any of the training matches that were being held there. I was made to feel worthless and humiliated, and I was prevented from doing the thing that I enjoy doing the most, which is playing football.
Additionally, Bonucci was not selected for Luciano Spalletti’s first Italy squad this month, which resulted in the loss of his captaincy of the Italian national team. Bonucci has stated that he will donate any benefits from his legal action to charity.
Following Giorgio Chiellini’s retirement from the Azzurri the previous year, he served as the team’s captain under the direction of former coach Roberto Mancini. He became a national hero in 2021 when he was an integral member of the team that won the most recent European Championship.
A statement made by the leader of the player’s union, Umberto Calcagno, that Bonucci’s “dignity is being trampled on” was refuted by Juve earlier this month.
Juve defended what it called the “legitimacy of its actions toward all registered players who are recognized and are fully guaranteed all of the rights” as stipulated in the collective bargaining agreement governing football.