ANKARA
Legendary Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon on Wednesday, announced his retirement from football at age 45.
Buffon had two spells with Italy’s Parma in 1995-2001 and 2021-2023.
He was a Juventus regular from 2001-2018 and 2019-2021 but spent one season at PSG before his return to the Turin club.
In 2021, Buffon left Juventus to join his boyhood club Parma, where he ended his career.
Club Career
Buffon made his Italian Serie A debut with Parma in 1995.
He helped Parma to win the Coppa Italia, the UEFA Cup (rebranded as Europa League in 2009) and the Supercoppa Italiana in 1999.
In 2001, he left his boyhood club Parma to join another Serie A side, Juventus, for a world record fee for a goalkeeper of €52 million ($54.7 million) at the time.
He was also Juventus’ most expensive player purchase ever, until the record was broken in 2016 by the acquisition of Gonzalo Higuain.
In 2006’s Calciopoli Scandal, Juventus was stripped of the 2004–05 Serie A title and relegated to Serie B, while the title was subsequently awarded to Inter Milan.
Buffon was among the star players including Alessandro Del Piero, David Trezeguet and Pavel Nedved, who stayed with Juventus, despite relegation.
Buffon helped Juventus to return to Serie A in 2007.
He was an integral part of the squad until 2018, which established a dynasty between 2011 and 2020 as Juventus won nine consecutive scudetti during that era.
Until his leave for Paris Saint-Germain in 2018, he played three UEFA Champions League finals with Juventus but could not clinch any of them.
After one season with the French Ligue 1 side, in 2019 Buffon returned to Juventus.
He bagged the 2019-20 Italian Serie A title with Bianconeri, which marked his 10th Serie A title, all with Juventus, and then returned to boyhood club Parma in 2021.
He announced his retirement in 2023, while playing for Parma.
International career
Buffon is an Italian National Football Team legend as he is the most capped player with 176 appearances.
Gigi, who was appointed as the national team captain in 2010, wore Italy’s captain band the most times with 80 games.
He clinched the 2006 FIFA World Cup with Italy.
Legacy
Buffon, who is widely regarded by many as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, has the most clean sheets by a goalkeeper in men’s association football with 505 games.
The 45-year-old also holds the record for most Serie A appearances with 657 games.
He won the 2003 UEFA Best Player in Europe award.
