Born in Viterbo, on the 1st May 1987, Leonardo Bonucci was brought up with the team of his native town and stayed there until he turned 18, playing mostly as a central midfielder or a winger to eventually move to the defence. After a useful experience with Viterbrese, he was transferred to Inter which added him to the Primavera.

With Inter he made a quick apparition in Serie A, making his debut on the 14th May 2006 against Cagliari. In 2007/08 he was transferred on loan to Treviso in the Serie B, to once again be transferred to Pisa in January 2009. In the summer of the same year Genoa signed him transferring him on a joint contract to Bari. With the team from Puglia, coached by Ventura, a coach he knew from his experience in Tuscany, he made his big step: he became the immovable fulcrum of a defence which did really well. He ended the championship with 38 appearances most of which he was voted man of the match. During Bari-Palermo he scored his first goal in the top division with a beautiful scissor-kick.

The year is also marked by a national team call-up. Marcello Lippi made him debut against Cameroon on the 3rd March 2010. The interest shown in him by the national coaqch, was confirmed with the call-up for South Africa, even though he only played before the competition, scoring during the friendly match against Mexico played in Brussels on the 3rd of June.