Legendary goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon will retire this summer after an astonishing career spanning four decades and over 1,000 appearances.
The news was officially broken by Italian reporter Fabrizio Romano with Buffon set to make an announcement shortly. Despite reportedly being offered another year at Serie B side Parma as the club’s number one, Buffon has decided to call time on an astonishing personal career in which he won 27 major honors including a FIFA World Cup winners’ medal in 2006.
Gianluigi Buffon will officially announce his retirement from professional football shortly. 👋🏻🇮🇹
Decision made yesterday and set to be confirmed. pic.twitter.com/F4jiZ8jNGP
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 2, 2023
“Gigi” Buffon finally retires at 45
Buffon made his debut for Parma back in 1995 and won the UEFA Cup for his boyhood club in 1999 before moving to Juventus in 2001 becoming the club’s most expensive purchase ever in the process.
At Juventus, Buffon established himself as a legend and without question one of the greatest goalkeepers of the modern era. He would remain in Turin for 17 years before returning to Juventus in 2019 after a year-long spell at Paris Saint-Germain.
Buffon made an astonishing 176 appearances for the Italian national team between 1997 and 2018- including that famous 2006 World Cup-winning campaign.
