There have been some strange transfer stories surrounding Newcastle United over the years and the weirdness only amplified when they became the “richest club in the world”.
Ignoring the fact that the “richest club in the world” title is a fallacy the mere idea of Newcastle having so much money has meant that the club has been linked to any player with a good reputation.
By far one of the strangest ones came last month when it was widely reported that Newcastle were contemplating Italy legend Leonardo Bonucci from Juventus.
Bonucci wants one last challenge before retirement
Bonucci is set to retire at the end of this season but wants one last challenge before he hangs up his boots and at one point it looked like Newcastle were about to hand him that challenge.
The 36-year-old has won nine Serie A titles, been nominated for the Ballon d’Or and shattered England hearts by scoring the goal that sent the Euro 2020 final to penalties. He is a legend of the game and now it looks like he will be ending his career by playing in the Bundesliga.
Fabrizio Romano has today posted on X that Union Berlin have reached a verbal agreement to sign the ‘incredible‘ centre-back and everything is expected to go through. Romano said: “Leonardo Bonucci to Union Berlin, here we go! Verbal agreement reached, Italian CB leaves Juventus on permanent deal and joins Union #UnionBerlin Bonucci will travel to Berlin later today if all goes to plan. Contract until June 2024, option for further season discussed.”
Newcastle could have benefitted from having Bonucci
Looking back now, with Fabian Schar and Sven Botman both having had injury scares already this season, would it have been such a bad move to bring Bonucci in for a season? His experience would have been excellent in helping us navigate the Champions League as well as the upper echelons of the Premier League.
He probably wouldn’t have played often but he’d have been an amazing presence to have around the dressing room, and I’m sure Sandro Tonali would have loved having him around.
Oh well. It wasn’t meant to be.
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