X

How Many Years Does Juventus' Gianluigi Buffon Have Left at the Top Level?

Mark Jones@@Mark_Jones86X.com LogoFeatured ColumnistAugust 21, 2015

Juventus Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon celebrates his team's goal during the Italian Super Cup final football match between Juventus and Lazio in Shanghai on August 8, 2015.  AFP PHOTO / JOHANNES EISELE        (Photo credit should read JOHANNES EISELE/AFP/Getty Images)
JOHANNES EISELE/Getty Images

His is a transfer record that remains unbroken, and for many that is a fitting accolade for one of the modern legends of the game.

Gianluigi Buffon is still the most expensive goalkeeper in world football history following his £32.6 million move from Parma to Juventus back in 2001. It’s a huge sum of money now but, adjusted for inflation, it was massive back then.

And for the 14 years Buffon has been the planet’s costliest ‘keeper, there would be many who’d claim that he’s been the best, too, but just how much longer does he have to go at the top level for both club and country?

6 Oct 2001:  Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon of Italy lines up prior to the FIFA 2002 World Cup Group Eight Qualifying match against Hungary played at the Ennio Tardini Stadium in Parma, Italy. \ Mandatory Credit: Clive Brunskill /Allsport
Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Now in his 38th year, Buffon has just had a season when he appeared 47 times for Juventus, more than in all but three of his previous 14 campaigns with the club.

He also added to his astonishing total of 148 caps for Italy, a tally which makes him the player to have represented the Azzurri more times than anyone else. Not a bad accolade at all.

And so given that we all know goalkeepers have a tendency to outlast outfield players when it comes to the longevity of their careers, what is stopping Buffon from going on to play for a few more years yet? According to a report by Reuters' Brian Homewood on the Daily Mail in April, he has no plans to retire in the near future, saying:

A player stops when he feels that he is no longer what he was before on the pitch.

Looking at it objectively, that is not my case. I will continue to keep playing as long as I am doing well, otherwise it would be a waste. Why bid farewell to football if you are playing well?

Why indeed, and if, as Buffon asks us to, we do look at his case objectively, then there is even more reason for the veteran to stick around.

He’s just featured in 33 of Juventus’ 38 league games in 2014/15, with the club’s concession of just 24 goals going a long way toward securing a fourth-straight Scudetto.

BERLIN, GERMANY - JUNE 06:  Gianluigi Buffon of Juventus makes a save during the UEFA Champions League Final between Juventus and FC Barcelona at Olympiastadion on June 6, 2015 in Berlin, Germany.  (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Indeed, that figure of 24 goals is joined by 23, 24 and 20 in those other three Serie A-winning seasons, with Buffon appearing in 133 of the 152 matches Juve played over those four campaigns—87.5 percent of them.

Of course the art of not conceding goals isn’t just down to the goalkeeper, but these are mightily impressive figures and—when you factor in Juve’s run to the Champions League final last season—would be celebrated whatever the age of the man between the sticks.

Consider too that plenty of other world-class goalkeepers have kept active beyond the age of 40.

MANCHESTER, ENGLAND - MAY 22:  Captain Edwin van der Sar of Manchester United leads out the team for his final league match prior to the Barclays Premier League match between Manchester United and Blackpool at Old Trafford on May 22, 2011 in Manchester, E
Shaun Botterill/Getty Images

Ex-Juve stopper Edwin van der Sar—who left for Fulham when Buffon was signed in 2001—won the Premier League and reached the Champions League final with Manchester United just months before his 41st birthday in 2011, whilst the legendary Dino Zoff lifted the World Cup for Italy at 40 and played for Juventus until he was 41.

Could Buffon do that? Absolutely.

The 2006 World Cup winner will be eyeing success with Italy at the European Championships in France next summer, but he’ll also feel as though he has a great opportunity to add a few more Serie A titles to his name given Juve’s status as undoubtedly the best team in Italy right now.

June’s defeat to Barcelona in the Champions League final in Berlin would have been a cruel one for Buffon to take, as he has still never won that competition following a previous final defeat in 2003, and that motivation will also still be uppermost in his mind as he goes into a new European season.

Juventus Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon greets supporters after the Italian Super Cup final football match between Juventus and Lazio in Shanghai on August 8, 2015. Juventus defeated Lazio 2:0.
AFP PHOTO / JOHANNES EISELE        (Photo credit should
JOHANNES EISELE/Getty Images

He’s certainly showing no signs of slowing down, though, and quite frankly nor should he.

It is conceivable that Buffon could play for at least three more seasons for both Juventus and Italy, and those two teams will doubtless be delighted if he does so.