'I was one of the best pieces of business in Juventus' history': Gianluigi Buffon
What's the story?
Paris Saint-Germain goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon believes that his transfer to Juventus in 2001 was one of the best pieces of business that the Serie A club has done in its history.
In case you didn't know...
Buffon left Parma to join Juventus in what was a world record fee of €52 million in 2001. The 40-year-old goalkeeper won nine Serie A and four Coppa Italia titles in his seventeen-year stint with the club and maintained 300 clean sheets in 655 matches in all competitions.
The Italian shot-stopper then moved to Ligue 1 giants Paris Saint-Germain in what was deemed to be one last bid to win a UEFA Champions League trophy.
His move to Juventus remained the most expensive deal for a goalkeeper in the history of football but this changed in the summer of 2018 when Premier League clubs Liverpool and Chelsea both paid hefty amounts for the services of Alisson (€72.5 million) and Kepa Arrizabalaga (€80 million) respectively.
The heart of the matter
In an interview with Four Four Two, Buffon spoke about the hefty prices that players demand for their services in modern football and how this has changed the game: "This is a period in which the sums that teams are spending on players have become extraordinary compared to what they used to be."
The PSG goalie cited his own transfer fee to Juventus saying, "I think of these as very intelligent moves. If we go back to my signing at Juve, the amount of money they spent on me had every critic saying the exact same thing: ‘No, you can’t pay that much money for a goalkeeper.’"
"And, you know, it’s right that those conversations happen as well. But in the end, I was at Juventus for 17 years. I think that with me, Juve made one of the best pieces of business in their history. If you look at it now, I doubt anyone could disagree with that."
The former Juventus star added that there should be no difference in wages between goalkeepers, midfielders, attackers, or defenders, maintaining that a player should be paid according to his value.
"I think each goalkeeper should be paid according to their value and according to what they know themselves to be worth. There are no battles going on between goalkeepers and defenders, goalkeepers and attackers, goalkeepers and midfielders."
What's next?
Buffon's Paris Saint-Germain currently sit at the top of the Ligue 1 table and will hope to extend their already-huge lead when they face Amiens SC on Saturday.