Gigi Buffon has hinted he may continue to play for another season, but only if Juventus feel he can still be important.

The legendary keeper turns 40 this Sunday and always said he would retire this summer, however the Juve legend seems to be having doubts over calling it day.

 

“I’ll meet President [Andrea] Agnelli soon and we’ll talk about it,” Buffon told La Repubblica.

“I want what’s best for the team, to understand what kind of clothes I can wear, whether Juventus think I can still be important.

“I’d like it, but the best solution has to be found with the club, building together – if possible – a logical and shared path.

“Of course, I don’t want to become a problem for Juventus or my teammates.

“Would I rotate with Szczesny? I’ve always given space to others and I’m happy for Tek. He’s a great goalkeeper, and if we win the Scudetto a large part of the credit will be his. He’ll be the future.

“Could I go somewhere else if I’m not offered a new contract? It’s Juve or nothing.

“Age? It’s a subject which makes me embarrassed and uncomfortable. I don’t want to be an old man who lies to himself, clinging on with his fingernails and his teeth to his legacy.

“This season I had an imperfection against Atalanta and an error on a free-kick against Spain.

“I’ve played games as a phenomenon, some normal, some maybe modest, but FIFA awarded me the Best Goalkeeper in 2017.

“I feel like I did six years ago, I don’t ask my Coaches for judgement, they judge me on the pitch every day.

“You won’t believe it, but at this point I’m a happy person.

“I prefer to find myself on the high seas with no fuel after crossing at a speed of 100 knots, rather than returning slowly and sadly to port.

“The tears in Milan went beyond the bitterness for a failure we thought was impossible, it was the consequence of a great sporting responsibility to the whole country, and the reaction of a man who at forty feels emotions more profoundly than when he was twenty.

“As for the injury, nothing happens by chance. The break was good for me, it sent me a clear message and forced me to think, and now I feel a desire to compete which is strange for my age.

“What will I do next? I’m still not thinking about it…

“A few days ago I asked Lippi for advice, we spoke on the phone. He told me to take a sabbatical year, Marcello told me to look at the football world from the outside with a bit of detachment and understand what I’m really interested in.

“I’ll tell you again, I’m not looking for a safe haven: it’s always better to live with a bit of anxiety.

“I’ve always lived with fear but I’ve learned to keep it at bay, I’ve become more humble. After [I retire] I want to work, that’s all.”

“Could I be a Coach? If it happens I won’t be a club Coach. I have a partner and three children who Iove dearly and 28 years of life behind me which people organised by the minute.

“I’d like to have the luxury of boredom. There are moments in which I wish to be alone, but only half-days of mine where I can do anything, where nothing is forbidden to me.

“I wouldn’t mind a job as a CT, it’s a stimulating commitment with an institutional and educational responsibility; representing an entire country and uniting, not dividing.

“Italy? No. I said I’d like to be a national team CT, not [that I wanted to do it] for the Azzurri.”

[Translation from FootballItalia.net]