Manchester City CEO Ferran Soriano recently disclosed that Juventus defender Leonardo Bonucci "contacted" them in the summer for a possible transfer deal to the English Premier League club.
In a recent radio interview, Soriano claimed that "a lot of players" wanted to join new City manager Pep Guardiola before the start of the season, but singled out the 29-year-old Italy international as the one who "called" the club, as per ESPN.
"At the moment, there are a lot of players that want to play under Pep," the chief executive said. "The Italian central defender Bonucci wanted to play for him (Guardiola) and he called us."
However, Soriano said that he also called Juve to ask if they are ready to sell Bonucci, but the Italian Serie A side refused.
"So I called the Juventus sporting director (Fabio Paratici), and he told me they didn't want to sell. End of story," said Soriano.
Soriano was then asked about the team's rumored plan to bid for Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi in the next transfer window.
"The natural thing is that Messi ends his sporting career with Barcelona," Soriano responded, via Daily Mail Online. "But if one day he calls us, we'll pick up the phone and we'll immediately open the door (to him)."
"But no, we will not call him," he added.
Meanwhile, Guardiola had recently denied reports that he recruited his former Barcelona players, including Messi, Neymar, and Luis Suárez, to join him at City during the last summer transfer window.
"This summer I never called Messi, Neymar, Busquets, Suarez or anybody," Guardiola said. "If ever I have called a Barça player it is because he doesn't get playing time. And look, if I did, I would be well within my rights because Barça calls City players."
Bonucci is in his seventh season with the reigning Serie A champions and is considered as one of the best defenders in Italy right now. He is part of the vaunted Juve backfield trio together with Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini in the squad's infamous 3-5-2 formation.
Bonucci has appeared in 281 games in all competitions for the Old Lady during those seven seasons and has scored a total of 16 goals mainly as a defender.