Juventus legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has confirmed on Tuesday that he will be leaving the club at the end of the season.
The second highest appearance holder for the Bianconeri after Alessandro Del Piero, Buffon returned to the club in 2019 after a pretty inconsistent season at Paris Saint-Germain. He signed on a two-year contract with Juventus which expires this summer and the 43-year-old has decided it is time to part ways with the Old Lady.
Buffon also confirmed that this a ‘definitive end’ to his ‘long and beautiful’ association with the club.
WHAT DID BUFFON SAY?
“My future is clear and defined,” he told beIN Sports. “This year, this beautiful and very long experience with Juve will end in a definitive way.
“Either I stop playing or if I find a situation that stimulates me to play or have a different life experience, I take it into consideration. I gave everything for Juve.“I have received everything and more than this cannot be done. We have reached the end of a cycle and it is right for one to remove the disturbance.”
WHAT NEXT?
After returning to Juventus, Buffon found it hard to get consistent playtime with Wojciech Szczesny being Andrea Pirlo’s first choice. Being the understudy to his former understudy, Buffon has had three clean sheets in the seven league games that he played and also helped Juventus reach the Coppa Italia final, which might be his last game for the Bianconeri on May 19.
Although retirement is surely an option at 43 years of age, Buffon seems like he wants to continue and it is being reported in Italy that Gian Piero Gasperini is looking to replace Pierluigi Gollini with the veteran at the Bergamo club. ( Football )