Italy’s legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has thanked Juventus after they gave him the opportunity to link up with Cristiano Ronaldo. The 41-year-old had become a free agent following his one-year stint with Paris Saint-Germain and instead of taking up a new challenge, he made the comeback with Juventus, where he made 656 appearances between 2001 and 2018.
Speaking to reporters, Buffon expressed the situation of playing with Ronaldo as beautiful. He added that he had the similar opportunity of working with Neymar and Kylian Mbappe at Parc des Princes and he is pleased to be concluding his career with such players around him, he said: "It's beautiful. At the end of my career I was able to play with Neymar and [Kylian] Mbappe thanks to Paris Saint-Germain, now it will happen with Cristiano Ronaldo thanks to Juventus. "I think that for players with my experience and with my history, to be able to end the career in such a way is a splendid gift."
Buffon had been offered with the number one shirt as well as the captain’s armband, but he decided to ignore the advances. As such, it is quite clear that the veteran is satisfied with the back-up role to Wojciech Szczesny between the sticks, though he could earn some gametime through the Cup competitions.
Meanwhile, Champions League crown has eluded Buffon during the course of his career and it remains to be seen whether he can celebrate European success before stepping down from the game next summer. Buffon has made a couple of Champions League finals over the past five years and one of those involved Real Madrid for whom Ronaldo bagged a hat-trick.
The Portuguese could not guide the Bianconeri to the trophy last term as they bowed out at the quarter-final stage, but the club have another opportunity next season after strengthening the squad with a few creative midfielders. Aside from Buffon, Adrien Rabiot and Aaron Ramsey have joined the Bianconeri on Bosman moves this summer.