Buffon decides his future. At 45, he has lucrative offers from Saudi Arabia on the table, and the end of his career is in the cards

Gianluigi Buffon returned two years ago to Parma, the club that brought him up for big-time football. The aim was to help the club back among the elite as quickly as possible. But even in his second season, it didn’t happen. Now the Italian legend is looking to his future.

The summer of 2021 offered one spectacular return. Gianluigi Buffon left Juventus and signed for Parma, a team that had just been relegated to the second league and where the Italian goalkeeper had worked his way up through the youth teams to adult football.

The Juventus legend wanted to help Parma return to the elite as soon as possible. But in the first season the traditional team only finished 12th, this year they finished fourth and fell short to Cagliari in the semi-finals of the play-offs.

However, the past season did not go well for Buffon. It’s not that he had bad performances and made some terrible mistakes. Rather, he was plagued by health problems. He missed 16 league games, including the play-offs, because of injuries.

So at 45 years old, the 2006 world champion is considering his next steps. He has one more year on his contract with Parma, but there are more options in play.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, the Italian has also received very lucrative offers from Saudi Arabia.

However, the Middle East is reportedly not interested in the Juventus legend. Instead, Buffon has considered ending his career. He reportedly wants to spend more time with his family, and is also unhappy with just how much he has wasted.

But the final decision hasn’t been made yet. It will all depend on whether Parma owner Kyle Krause personally asks Buffon to stay on and help the team to progress. If that happens, the phenomenal goalkeeper could manage one more season.

Source: La Gazzetta dello Sport