© EuroFootball.com
After a couple of weeks of intense speculation, the agent of the Italian national team and Turin goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon stated that his client is ready to stay with the team, despite the fact that they will most likely play in the country's second strongest "Serie B" league next season.
"Gigi remains in the Juventus club. He is ready to play in Serie B. He has never won the Serie B championship and now would like to try to do so. There was an offer from Roma to loan him, but Juve didn't even consider it. The club stated what any club would do - Buffon is a national team player and can be sold for a significant price, there is no point in loaning him," said the footballer's agent Silvano Martina.
After the verdict and Juventus' relegation to Serie B, 28-year-old G.Buffon was linked with many clubs, but did not want to move abroad, and hopes of AC Milan, who wanted to acquire him, significantly diminished when the team lost the right to participate in the Champions League.
In 2001, Buffon moved to Juventus from Parma and became the most expensive goalkeeper on the planet. Recovered from a shoulder injury suffered last summer, the player returned to the squad at the end of 2005 and helped his team win the Serie A championship, as well as triumphed with the Italian national team in the World Cup, being named the best goalkeeper of the tournament.
Relegated to Serie B with a 30-point deficit, Juventus also hopes to keep in the team one of its symbols, striker Alessandro Del Piero, and Czech defender Pavel Nedved, but the future of other team stars remains uncertain. The Turin club has already rejected a 30-million-euro offer from Real Madrid for defenders Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta, and midfielder Emerson.
The new Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello wants to see these former pupils in the ranks of the Royal Club and is trying to attract them. F.Cannavaro and G.Zambrotta recently became world champions, and Brazilian midfielder Emerson has been familiar with F.Capello for several years - since they played together at AS Roma.
"In the coming days, we will meet with them again to continue negotiations," said Juventus sporting director Alessio Secco. "We are ready to sell players only if we receive sufficient offers."
It is also believed that in the battle for Juventus players against their fierce rival Real Madrid, Barcelona has also joined. It is said that two representatives of the Spanish club arrived in Turin on Tuesday and will try to take advantage of Juventus' reluctance to give players to Madrid under the guidance of coach F.Capello, and acquire Lilian Thuram, David Trezeguet, and G.Zambrotta. The latter is especially of interest to London.
