Prepare the nostalgia: Gigi Buffon reportedly heading back to Parma

In the days following Gianluigi Buffon announcing that he was going to leave Juventus for a second time, he made sure to remind folks that he was going to take a little bit of time to decide on his next move. Seeing as he’s still very good at the age of 43, retirement likely wasn’t in the equation, and the rumors of where he would go next were popping up every few days in the Italian press as a result of that.

It looks as though Buffon has made his decision.

And whoooooo boy is it gonna get you right in the feels.

Buffon, after spending the last two seasons as Wojciech Szczesny’s backup, is set to return to the place where his historic career started, according to Sky Sport Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio and Fabrizio Romano among others. The 43-year-old Buffon is set to sign as a free agent with Parma, the club who he grew up at and first made his name before moving to Juventus for a then-record transfer fee in 2001. With his move to Parma, Buffon will be playing in Serie B after Parma was relegated at season’s end, and it will be the first time he’s appeared in Italy’s second division since Juve’s one-year “hiatus” from Serie A in 2006-07.

I don’t know about you guys, but I feel like Parma goalkeeper jerseys are going to be quite a hot ticket come Buffon officially arriving at the club later on this summer.

And this is for a club who ALWAYS have great kits. That’s true for when Buffon was first a Parma player, and you know he’s going to make whatever they have coming his way for the 2021-22 season look even better than they already will be.

Buffon moving back to Parma is obviously a huge nostalgia moment for those of us who are longtime calcio followers as well as Buffon fans on top of that. Would it have been great for Buffon to finish his career at Juventus? Sure, but seeing him try and lead the club he grew up at back to Serie A and then, if they do get promoted and he still wants to play, appear with Parma in the top flight for one last hurrah — that’s just great storyline after great storyline right there.

It also just shows you what kind of chance Buffon views this as seeing as he’s reportedly been approached by clubs in Serie A and in Spain. He wants to go back to Parma, he wants to get them back to Serie A and he is obviously going to have an absolute blast while doing it because that’s just who he is and what a return to Parma is going to mean to him.

He could have gone anywhere he wanted, yet he’s choosing to go back to Parma to help them get back to Serie A. Buffon gonna Buffon, folks — and don’t you ever forget it.