Buffon to leave Juventus at the end of the season

We all knew this day was coming, but the way this season has meandered into nothingness, it is no surprise either. Juventus legend and one of the greatest goalkeepers to have played the game Gianluigi ‘Gigi’ Buffon has announced that he will be leaving Juventus at the end of this current campaign.

The 43-year-old returned to the club after spending a year at Paris St. Germain in 2018-19 in search of the elusive Champions League trophy, but with his current contract at Juve expiring next month, Buffon announced in an interview with beIN Sports that he would be leaving the club while leaving the door open to continue his career elsewhere.

He started off with his perspective on the current season and where things went wrong for Juve as they tried and failed to win their tenth consecutive Scudetto.

“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.”

Buffon was asked about his relationship with polarizing veteran Cristiano Ronaldo.

“I have an excellent relationship with Ronaldo. He’s very nice to me.

“He has scored a lot of goal, always. Like in the last few years. The individual is enhanced when the team reaches important goals. If this doesn’t happen, the performances of the individuals suffer as well.”

And then he dropped the bombshell.

“My future is clear and defined. This beautiful and very long experience with Juve will come to a definitive end this year.

“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.”

His choice of words in Italian for the last bit there tolgo il disturbo could be telling, as it seems to imply that there is some sort of feeling that either he is a burden to Juve, or being at Juve is a burden to him (courtesy of Fefu).

Either way, it seems to be the end of an era for one of the greatest players and leaders at Juventus just when the club could use some stability in very strange times.