Veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon confirmed that he will leave Juventus at the end of the 2020/21 season, he confirmed on Tuesday (May 11).
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Veteran goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon confirmed that he will leave Juventus at the end of the 2020/21 season. The 43-year-old’s contract ends in June this year and he won’t be renewing his deal. However, he has not yet decided on whether or not he will retire. Buffon has made over 1000 professional appearances since his debut for Parma in 1995. He joined Juventus in 2001 and more than 500 of those apperanaces came for the Serie A giants. “My future is clear and defined. This beautiful and very long experience with Juve will come to a definitive end this year,” Buffon told beIN Sports.
“Either I stop playing, or if I find a situation that motivates me to play or have a different life experience, I will take it into consideration.
“I feel 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’s right for one to remove the disturbance.”
This won’t be the first time Buffon has left the side. He had left in 2018 when his contract expired, even joining Paris Saint-Germain on a free.
However, that stint only lasted a season and he was back in Turin in the summer of 2019. His latest stint is now drawing to a close after two seasons.
This year, he was the understudy to first-choice Wojciech Szczesny, who ironically joined Juventus as Buffon’s back-up. The veteran Italian played only seven Serie A games, in which he kept three clean sheets.
He’s featured more regularly in the Coppa Italia, playing a role in their run to the final. However, Buffon said that the team needs more character.
“We lacked continuity. In the end, in the games we played against the top five, six teams, we often won. We drew sometimes and lost some.
“But it has always been even games. Instead, we lost stupid points against the lesser teams. This means you are a team that have yet to grow in character.”
Juventus are currently fifth in Serie A, and at this rate will play in the Europa League next season.
