Gianluigi Buffon’s agent has confirmed that the goalkeeper is indeed set to renew his contract with Juventus” data-scaytid=”3″>Juventus.
Gianluigi Buffon’s agent has confirmed that the goalkeeper is indeed set to renew his contract with Juventus.
Bianconeri director general Beppe Marotta commented yesterday that the 36-year-old’s extension was a mere ‘formality’, and now the player’s agent has given substance to the official’s admission.
“It is a formality, like Marotta said,” Silvano Martina has told Sportitalia this week.
“Now, there’s such a relationship between Gigi and the club that he’s no longer just a player for them. They’re also making plans for the future
“His objective is to appear at a sixth World Cup, and he’ll become the only player in history to have done so.
“A player needs to set themselves goals. When I played, there was the great Dino Zoff, who was at [Buffon’s] age, and physically I see Buffon much stronger than Zoff.
“It goes without saying that with the contracts he signed in previous years, a handshake was enough between him and the President.”
When asked if Buffon – whose contract was due to expire end of the season – could have suffered a similar fate to fellow legend Alessandro Del Piero, Martina denied any such correlation.
“No, absolutely not. [Juventus] have an infinite esteem for him,” the agent added.
“I also think there’s some recognition on the part of Juventus, because we must never forget that a month before he became a World champion, he stayed with them in Serie B.
“Personally I don’t know about Del Piero, but it can be said that with Gigi, half the world wanted him, with some important offers, and he even took a reduced salary to drop down to Serie B.
“He made a gesture at a time when all of Juventus’ other champions were waiting for what he did – when he said he was staying, others did after that.
“Today, Buffon is playing like the world’s No 1. He’s still the strongest goalkeeper in the world.”