Although he has spent his entire career in Italy, Juventus captain Gianluigi Buffon revealed he rejected a number of lucrative foreign offers, including a serious approach from Manchester City.
Shortly after the 2006 Calciopoli scandal that saw the Bianconeri demoted to Serie B, the Citizens made a move for his services as they wanted the Italy international to be a figurehead for their new-look big-spending regime.
But having displayed his loyalty to the club by refusing to jump ship after they were sent to the second tier, the Carrara native had no intention of walking out on the Bianconeri in spite of the riches on offer from Manchester.
“The most serious and direct approach I had was from Manchester City,” he told BT Sport’s European Football Show. “They wanted to kickstart their adventure by signing two or three experienced players and I was one of the ones they wanted to sign.
“That was around 2007 or 2008 but for various reasons, nothing ever came of that and I’m happy at Juventus.”
Those weren’t the only times Buffon had offers from England and he also confessed that earlier in his career, both Manchester United and Arsenal had expressed an interest in plucking him from Parma.
“When I was 20 years old in 1998 I had dinner once with Arsene Wenger of Arsenal in France,” added the Juventus star.
“Then during my time at Parma, Manchester United definitely had their eyes on me for a long time under Sir Alex Ferguson.”
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