With only a few days separating us from the end of the summer transfer session, the future of Leonardo Bonucci remains up in the air.

The 36-year-old still has a season left on his Juventus contract, but the club made it abundantly clear that the player no longer has a place at Continassa.

The management stripped the defender of the captain’s armband and completely dropped him out of the squad in an attempt to prompt his departure.

While the Italian was defiant at first, he has seemingly accepted his fate. He’s now contemplating his new career move, with the likes of Lazio, Genoa and Union Berlin as possible destinations.

For his part, Juventus manager Max Allegri insists that dropping Bonucci wasn’t a decision taken out of the blue.

The 56-year-old reveals that the club had already told the player in February that he’ll have to find himself a new home if he wishes to prolong his playing career.

Nevertheless, the manager suggests that retiring could be the wisest decision for the defender’s future.

“I’m sorry it had to end like this, but we’ve been clear with Leo since February when the club and I spoke to him several times,” said Allegri in an interview with DAZN via La Gazzetta dello Sport.

“We told him that next season he would have to decide to continue elsewhere or call it a day.”

“Leo made history at Juventus, playing 500 games and even went on the pitch with a limp.

“He gave a lot to Juve and vice-versa. He has to make an important decision which shouldn’t be based on a single year, but on what the future holds for him because he’s still young.

“It’s normal, when a champion like him reaches the end of his career, there’s a fear of quitting.

“I wasn’t a champion, I had a normal career so it was easy for me to quit. The dynamics are the same, the difference is that one must have the ability to accept it.

“If he accepts it quickly, it’s good for him, if he accepts later, he gets bored. For me, he was an extraordinary player.

“He will remain in the history of the club. Only a select few managed to make 500 appearances at Juventus.”