(Football news) Leonardo Bonucci will close the curtains on his illustrious career at the end of next season after revealing his retirement plans. The 36 year old has won eight Serie A titles across two spells at Juventus and made his 500th appearance for the club against Sevilla last week. He has 120 international caps and won the Euro 2020 against England in July 2021.

Speaking on Juventus’ YouTube channel, Bonucci said “Wearing this shirt has been like living a dream for 12 years. Everything I’ve done has been for a shirt that for me is like a second skin. There’s still a little boy inside who is so happy to wear this shirt and take to the field in it because it was his dream – a dream come true. 

“When I stop playing next year, it will be the end of a defensive era – a way of defending Italian style. It’s a source of pride to be up there with the greatest. I hope lots of future defenders will see us as idols – just as we did with (Franco) Baresi, (Alessandro) Nesta, (Paolo) Maldini and (Fabio) Cannavaro. It would mean we have achieved a lot and given the game a lot.”

Bonucci began his career at Inter Milan in 2005, winning his first Serie A title in the 2005/06 season. He has also played at Treviso, Pisa, Genoa and Bari before joining Juventus in 2010 where he partnered alongside Andrea Barzagli, Georgio Chiellini and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. At Juventus, Juventus won nine consecutive Serie A titles from 2011/12 to 2019/20 out of which Bonucci won eight of them, spending one season at AC Milan in 2017/18.

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