Chelsea and Manchester City renew interest in Juventus star

Chelsea and Manchester City have both rekindled their interest in Leonardo Bonucci and will test Juventus’ resolve at the end of the season, reports The Independent.

Both clubs failed to secure Bonucci’s services last summer and the Italy international, who is widely regarded as one of the best central defenders in Europe, only signed a new five-year deal in December.

However, Bonucci has been dropped from the squad for Juventus’ clash with Porto in the Champions League on Wednesday night after engaging in a war of words with manager Max Allegri at the weekend.

The 29-year-old has been fined for his actions that have been described as an accumulation of incidents throughout the season and in just six months his future at Juventus appears less clear-cut with both City and Chelsea desperate to sign the defender in the summer.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich is reportedly willing to sanction a world-record transfer fee for a defender in order to reward Conte with his top transfer target, which would see the Premier League champions-elect pay more than £50m for his services.

Since the start of last season no outfielder has completed more accurate long balls than Bonucci (334).

For more stats on Leonardo Bonucci, click here to visit his WhoScored player page