Buffon confirms he will retire by 2023

(Reuters) – Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon has revealed that he plans to retire by June 2023 at the latest but won’t rule out hanging up his boots sooner. 

The 43-year-old’s contract with the Turin club expires at the end of the season and a renewal is yet to be agreed with the Italian champions. 

“Look, in my head, there truly is a final stop sign, a maximum bar, which is June 2023,” Buffon said in an interview with The Guardian. 

“That is the maximum, really, really the maximum. But I could also stop playing in four months.”

Buffon, a 2006 World Cup champion with Italy and 10-time Serie A winner with Juventus, previously said in 2017 that he would retire in 2018, but he instead moved to French side Paris St Germain for a year before returning to Juve.

He has deputised for Wojciech Szczesny at Juve this season, making 10 appearances in all competitions.

(Reporting by Alasdair Mackenzie; Editing by Christian Radnedge)