Gianluigi Buffon has revealed Manchester City made a “very big” offer to sign him during his spell at Juventus.
The 41-year-old Italian goalkeeper now plies his trade at Paris Saint-Germain, having joined the Ligue 1 club last summer on a one-year deal.
The legend of Buffon: five things to know…
- Buffon started his career at Parma and is regarded as one of the game’s greatest goalkeepers.
- Buffon made his debut on November 19, 1995 against AC Milan in which he kept a clean sheet.
- The goalkeeper played 176 time for Italy, winning the 2006 World Cup being the most special highlight.
- At club level, Buffon has kept 405 clean sheets in 895 official matches.
- Among his silverware are nine Italian championships and one UEFA Cup.
Arguably the greatest goalkeeper of his generation, Buffon came through at boyhood club Parma before joining Italian giants Juventus where he subsequently enjoyed an illustrious 17-year playing career.
Unlike many of his team-mates Buffon, coveted by a number of European clubs, chose to remain in Turin when the club was demoted to Serie B after the Calciopoli scandal – further enhancing his legendary status among Juve’s fanbase – and was duly rewarded by guiding them back up at the first time of asking.
Around this period, Manchester City became a credible player in the transfer window following heavy investment firstly by Thaksin Shinawatra and then Sheikh Mansour.
During their splurge Buffon was earmarked as a candidate, but the Carrara-born goalkeeper wasn’t ready to leave Juventus and rejected both City and the advances of Manchester United legend Sir Alex Ferguson.
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‘When I was a boy playing for Parma, [Sir Alex] Ferguson tracked me closely for two or three years, and he’d always send scouts to watch me,” he told BT Sport.
“At the time, Parma was my world and I didn’t feel like leaving. I later had a very big offer from Manchester City, when they started to build the team and become the most important side in Europe.
“They wanted me to be the first signing, but I stayed at Juve.”
How is Buffon getting on at PSG?
Despite his advancing years, Buffon remains a solid pick in goal. His acquisition last summer was enthusiastically greeted among PSG’s support and he’s repaid their faith.
So far he’s been deployed no fewer than 19 times by manager Thomas Tuchel; registering nine clean sheets in the process (47.4% of his matches) whilst only conceding 10 goals (or one every 166 minutes).
4. What happened next? Parma's ridiculous UEFA Cup winners from 1999 – https://t.co/FdwmacywaM
Gianluigi Buffon the only one still playing.
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— Squawka Football (@Squawka) January 28, 2019
Both Buffon and PSG are fuelled the same goal: winning the Champions League. Since the club was taken over by Qatari investors in 2011 the best they’ve done is reach four consecutive quarter-finals (2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16).
Buffon, meanwhile, lost three finals (2003, 2015 and 2017) with Juventus.
PSG have given themselves a great chance of reaching another Champions League quarter-final.
Tuchel’s men boast a 2-0 lead over Manchester United ahead of the second leg of their last-16 tie and have been installed as firm favourites to progress.
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