Leonardo Bonucci Would Be an Outstanding Signing for Pep Guardiola and Man City

The new era at Manchester City has truly begun.

Pep Guardiola has been welcomed by the fans, faced the media and completed his first week of training with a somewhat depleted squad.

Many of his senior stars have been involved in international tournaments this summer and are yet to return—but he’s had an opportunity work with the likes of Gael Clichy, Wilfried Bony and Yaya Toure, as well as around nine youngsters who have been promoted in order to bolster numbers.

The club will head to Germany to face Guardiola’s former side Bayern Munich in 10 days' time in their first warm-up match of pre-season before flying to China to play Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund. A game with Arsenal in Gothenburg will complete their preparations, with other matches likely to be scheduled beforehand.

Guardiola has been impressed with the youngsters he’s worked with this week, praising their technical quality and talking effusively about the club’s academy setup. "I knew when I spoke with Txiki [Begiristain], they are working the last years very, very well in that sense,” he said during his first press conference as City manager. “Chelsea and Manchester City are the best academies in that way and the way they play. They are both fighting to win titles in the academies.

"Now I realise in a short time we are working with 9-10 players in the second team and most of them I'm really impressed with their quality."

He’s got plenty to work with. The City Football Academy (CFA) is constantly evolving. The quality of players being produced by City’s youth development staff is increasing season on season, and the current batch of EDS stars are the best the club have had since the takeover in 2008.

However, he knows he needs more senior options if he wants to compete for trophies in his first season, particularly at the back, where City have clear weaknesses. Vincent Kompany has injury problems and hasn’t played regularly enough in recent seasons. His fitness will be monitored, and if he can remain fit it will be a bonus, but the club are now looking at alternatives to the captain.

Eliaquim Mangala and Nicolas Otamendi have failed to settle, although it will be fascinating to see whether Guardiola can have a positive impact on their form. Both have a reckless streak that undermines much of their good work and puts City in unnecessary danger.

Additional resources are needed, then, and one name linked heavily in the past week has been that of Juventus centre-back Leonardo Bonucci. According to Sky Sports, City want the Italian, who impressed at the Euro 2016 before the Azzurri’s quarter-final exit at the hands of Germany and is widely considered to be one of the best defenders in the game. The Blues are understood to have failed with a £38 million offer—but are willing to pay up to £43 million to get him. 

He’s a superb reader of the game who can operate in different systems with apparent ease. It’s perhaps this intelligence that makes him such an attractive prospect to a manager like Guardiola, who appreciates players comfortable in a variety of roles.

Indeed, it’s well known that Guardiola rates Bonucci, 29, highly. Back in February, he took his Bayern Munich side to Turin in the Champions League. Having been 2-0 up and seemingly in control, the game finished 2-2. In his post-match press conference, the Catalan praised the strength of the Juventus team and specifically singled out Bonucci as a player he admired.

“Did you really think we could come here and expect to dominate for 90 minutes?" he asked, as reported by Goal. "Against a side with [Paul] Pogba, [Mario] Mandzukic, [Alvaro] Morata, [Gianluigi] Buffon and [Leonardo] Bonucci—who is one of my favourite ever players."

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Bonucci would bring qualities City desperately need. He’s arguably the most complete defender in the game. Strong, comfortable in possession, tactically astute, good in the air and an exceptional slide tackler; few anticipate danger quite as well as the Italian.

City have struggled to target the right defenders in recent years. Jerome Boateng, Stefan Savic, Matija Nastasic, Martin Demichelis, Mangala and Otamendi have all been signed since 2010, yet City have consistently had defensive instability. With City no longer able to rely on Kompany, whose calf problems are ruining his career, a player like a Bonucci, who offers so much experience and quality, is exactly what is required.

But can they land him? It would take a significant outlay to secure his services—but City are in a healthy financial position. After operating at a loss for a number of years after the takeover in 2008, they are now profitable having increased their commercial capacity, and with the new Premier League TV deal swelling the coffers of every top-flight English side this summer, they are in a position to put together a financial package for any player in the world.

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But Juventus are likely to be unwilling sellers. Bonucci has been a mainstay in their defence since 2010—a key element in their rich recent success. He’s a star of the side and a player who enjoys a good relationship with the fans. Selling him would be disastrous on many levels. He would have to agitate for a move to make it possible, an unlikely scenario given his love for the club.

If City can get him, it would be a statement of their intent and a hugely significant moment for Guardiola, who needs to reinvent his first-team squad. City need a top-class defender and few can match Bonucci, but it's going to take a huge effort to land him.

Rob Pollard is Bleacher Report's lead Manchester City correspondent and follows the club from a Manchester base. All quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. Follow him on Twitter @RobPollard_.