Buffon to quit Juventus at end of season

Rome (AFP) – Gianluigi Buffon said Tuesday that he will bring the curtain down on his time at Juventus after nearly two decades at the end of the season, but will look to prolong his trophy-filled career elsewhere at the age of 43.

Former Italy captain Buffon is an iconic figure in Italian football, one of the stars of the Azzurri’s 2006 World Cup triumph who racked up a record 176 caps for his country.

However he has been behind Wojciech Szczesny in the goalkeeping pecking order since returning to Juve from a short spell at Paris Saint-Germain in 2019 and has made just 12 appearances in all competitions this season.

“My future is clear, at the end of the season I’m leaving Juve, and then I will either find something that stimulates me or I will quit the game,” he said in an interview with BeIN Sport.

“I have both given and received everything at Juventus, but we have come to the end of a cycle and it’s only right that I put an end to any confusion (over his future).”

Buffon, who holds the record for Serie A appearances, has won 10 Serie A titles with Juventus since joining in 2001, as well as five Italian Cups and second-tier Serie B in 2007 after they were relegated in the aftermath of the ‘Calciopoli’ match-fixing scandal.

He also won Ligue 1 with Paris Saint-Germain in 2018-2019 before returning to the Turin giants, and the UEFA Cup back in 1999 with Parma, where he began his career as a teenager in 1995.

However he has never won the Champions League after losing finals with Juve in 2003, 2015 and 2017.