Gianluigi Buffon is set to leave Juventus at the end of their current campaign and the 40-year-old might move to other club and play in a different league for the first time in his career. The latest reports suggest that Liverpool are interested in getting the veteran Italian goalkeeper at Anfield.
Juventus have already wrapped up the Serie A title and have confirmed that their goalkeeper is going to leave the club on a high. They were ran close by Napoli this year but they soaked up the pressure and prevailed through to win the title in the end. Buffon recently was the talk of the footballing world after he gave a fuming interview when the Italian giants were knocked out of the Champions League in the quarterfinals by the defending champions Real Madrid.
Liverpool has had goalkeeping issues since Pepe Reina left the club and Simon Mignolet has just not been good enough over the years to be called a no 1 for a club of Liverpool’s calibre. They have deployed Lloris Karius for the most part of this season and the German has shown good potential since he has been made the first choice starter. One expects that Mignolet will be sold in the summer and Liverpool will go in for a goalkeeper in the transfer market to bring competition for places and improve their options in the goalkeeping department.
Apart from adding more depth in the goalkeeping spot, Buffon can very well act as a mentor to some of the young goalkeepers at the club. The 40-year-old’s abilities might have waned over the years but he is still one of the best in the business.
Liverpool has been blamed for defensive frailties which have been their Achilles heel over the last few years but since the record signing of Virgil Van Dijk and the emergence of young prospects like Trent Alexander Arnold and Andy Robertson, the Reds have improved leaps and bounds in the last few months. However, there are still question marks over the goalkeeping spot as the fans are yet not sure of Karius’s abilities but he has gone on to win some of the trust back after few good outings in the latter half of the season.
For winning any sort of title, a solid goalkeeper is a necessity who can consistently perform day in day out for his team. A goalkeeper is a foundation for any top team and a signing like Buffon will certainly improve Liverpool’s goalkeeping options. Even at 40, he might well start over Karius and the Reds will probably offer him a short-term contract if they make a move for him in the summer.
