Gianluigi Buffon to End 17-Year Career with Juventus, After Seria A’s Last Round this Weekend

Although he’ll be saying goodbye to the Old Lady, Buffon seems to be open to continue his career elsewhere by suggesting he’s received “interesting proposals” from unnamed clubs.

Time is right for one final adventure

Despite turning 40 years of age in January this year, Buffon has implied that he intends to continue playing football away from Turin; perhaps he’ll follow in the footsteps of former teammates Andrea Pirlo or Sebastian Giovinco – the former used to play for New York City until his retirement last summer, while the latter is still plying his trade for Toronto FC.

Another likely destination could be the Chinese Super League (CSL) where a number of ageing football stars are cashing in on their name, according to online sportsbooks in China. Bleacher Report on the other hand believes Buffon could be on his way to PSG to become the latest marquee signing as the Parisiens aim to win the Champions League at all costs – the only trophy that’s missing from the Italian keeper cabinet.

“Saturday will be my last game for Juventus,” said the iconic goalkeeper. “I think it’s the best way to end this wonderful adventure. For now I only know that Saturday I will play a game. Until a few days ago it was certain that I would stop playing. Now there are some interesting proposals.”

The 40-year-old has also reiterated that Juventus will be in safe hands with former Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny, who is still young for a player in his position so the club can go many years with him between the posts. The Pole has already made 21 appearances in all competition this season, so his transition to a “full-time” keeper shouldn’t be a problem next season.

Buffon was one of the heroes in 2006 when Italy won the World Cup

“In Wojciech Szczesny, Juventus have an excellent goalkeeper, who also has 13 years less than me. Giorgio Chiellini is the perfect example of how a Juve captain should be. He has always been a reference to me. I wish him all the best.”

Loyalty stayed loyal to Juventus, even when times were unfavourable

Buffon joined Juventus from Parma in the summer of 2001 for a fee believed to be around €52 million, which is a considerable sum in today’s transfer market, but back then it was an astronomical figure. This move made him the most expensive goalkeeper of all time, a record that still stands to this day.

Considering his 17 years of service for the Turin side, it’s safe to say that vast sum has paid off and then some, as he helped guide them to an impressive eleven Scudetto titles – two of which (2004/05 and 2005/06) were stripped off Juventus for their involvement in the Calciopoli scandal that saw them relegated to Serie B for one season as punishment.

Although a number of his teammates then – including Ibrahimovic, Vieira, Cannavaro and others – opted to switch to other clubs ahead that played at the top level instead of the Serie B ahead of the 2006/07 season, Buffon was one of the few that showed great loyalty by deciding to stay with the club and helped them get back to the top tier of Italian football, per online sportsbooks in Italy.

The Seria A is set to play their final round of matches this weekend; Juventus will take on Verona at home, which will mark Buffon’s 656th official game for the Turin side. On top of nine Seria A triumphs with Juventus, the keeper has also one Seria B title, four Coppa Italia medals and five Supercoppa Italiana titles.