“I admired Alessandro Nesta a lot because he set the mark of this new way of defending and playing the ball,” he told acmilan.com, shortly after his surprise £35m transfer from Juventus in July.
Between 2002 and 2012, Nesta won the Serie A and the Champions League twice and his name is mentioned in the same breath as Maldini, Baresi, Costacurta and other San Siro icons.
“He was always elegant, with perfect timing. He was a role model. I was lucky to meet him on the pitch and it was the first time in my life I got emotional when I asked a legend like him to swap shirts.”
It’s an exciting time to be a Milan fan after so many years of underachievement for a club with a reputation as big as theirs and Bonucci, 30, now has the chance to make his own mark in the red and black shirt.
“When I set foot inside the museum it was really breathtaking seeing the legends that have worn this shirt and what they have done for this club.”
And despite making his name as a defender, he revealed he only took up the position when he was 16, moving from defensive midfield and he even spent time as a striker.
He lists Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero as another one of his idols because “scoring goals, delivering assists was something that always fascinated me,” however, in terms of defenders there was just one player to look up to.