New Juventus coach Max Allegri warned Leonardo Bonucci the only way he’ll be captain is to ‘buy the armband and wear it in the street,’ as Paulo Dybala will be vice-captain to Giorgio Chiellini.
While Chiellini has not technically signed his new contract yet and is a free agent right now, Allegri assures in his press conference that there’s no question the Italy international will be their captain in 2021-22, with Dybala as his understudy.
“In terms of his experience at Juve, Dybala can be the vice-captain because Bonucci left Juventus and then returned, so he had to start from scratch. I expect a lot from Dybala, I’ve spoken to him and he is very motivated,” said Allegri.
“The captain and vice-captain are decided depending on how long they’ve been playing in the team. So Chiellini is the most experienced one, followed by Dybala.
“Bonucci left for one season, he made that decision, so if he wants the captain’s armband he must buy it and play with it in the street. Leo is aware of that,” Allegri said smiling.
In my last season at Juventus, Mario Mandzukic and Sami Khedira wore the captain’s armband, because Leo had fallen behind in the pecking order.”
This is not the first time the coach has clashed with his defender, as the centre-back was famously sent to sit on a stool in the stands during a Champions League match in Portugal.
It was partly due to that incident that Bonucci left Juve to join Milan in 2017, an experience that lasted just one season before he came back to Turin.
He had originally joined the Bianconeri from Bari in 2010 and was a key figure in their defence throughout most of the record-breaking run of nine consecutive Serie A titles.