Gigi Buffon announced he’ll retire at the end of this season, but implied Juventus pushed him. “I have to respect the choices of the club.”
The goalkeeper turns 40 in January and confirmed this week that it’ll be his final campaign, unless he wins the Champions League, in which case he’ll hold on to play in the Club World Cup in December 2018.
After this evening’s 2-0 victory away to Milan, Buffon was asked by Sky Sport Italia why he was hanging up his gloves.
Gigi Buffon announced he’ll retire at the end of this season, but implied Juventus pushed him. “I have to respect the choices of the club.”
The goalkeeper turns 40 in January and confirmed this week that it’ll be his final campaign, unless he wins the Champions League, in which case he’ll hold on to play in the Club World Cup in December 2018.
After this evening’s 2-0 victory away to Milan, Buffon was asked by Sky Sport Italia why he was hanging up his gloves.
“There is a time for everyone and I also have to respect the choices of the club, who buy goalkeepers younger than me and perhaps even better than me,” replied the captain.
Juventus signed Wojciech Szczesny from Arsenal over the summer and he is being groomed to replace Buffon.
“I want to conclude my career in the best way possible, trying to honour it to the end.”
This would be not dissimilar to the situation Francesco Totti went through at Roma last term, where he clearly wanted to play on, but the club would not offer him a contract extension.