Gianluigi Buffon looks set to stay at Paris Saint-Germain next season despite recent reports suggesting he’ll move on this summer after just one season in the French capital.
The experienced Italian stopper, a World Cup winner with Italy in 2006, arrived in Paris last summer after a glittering 17-year career with Juventus .
But recent reports suggested the 41-year-old, who has shared first-team PSG duties with Alphonse Areola this season, would move on at the end of the season.
However, the much-liked veteran has seemingly put those rumours to bed and revealed his French employers have indeed offered him fresh terms.
(Image: PA)
Speaking to Sky Uno chat show ‘E poi c’e Cattelan’, he said: “The club offered me a renewal and this makes me really very happy. It’s very gratifying.
“We will meet over the next few days to look inside this project and understand if we both consider it right to go forward.
“I am happy in Paris, I’m having an exceptional experience that at the age of 40 I really wanted to enjoy. I arrived here convinced that I would challenge myself as a player and as a person and I found what I was looking for in that moment.”
Buffon also admitted he has been surprised by the standard of football in France, and appeared to suggest more high-profile players should consider making the switch to Ligue 1.
(Image: 2018 Getty Images)
“In Italy we have this wrong-headed perception of French football, which in my view is admittedly less tactically-evolved than in Italy, but is still very difficult on a physical and technical level,” he added.
“There are many very talented individuals of world class level. There are teams like Lille and Lyon who in Serie A would comfortably finish in the top five and that means I think the level of Ligue 1 is on a par with ours.
“If a side like Rennes, who we lost to in the Coupe de France and who beat Arsenal 3-1 in the Europa League, despite finishing eighth in Ligue 1, that means the level is pretty high.
“We should be a little more humble when judging other leagues.”
