I may be the only one in this boat and i havent read all the posts so i apologise of i am repeating something that has already been posted..however...
at 5.5 million a season, and at the age of 32/33 years old and with the amount of serious injuries he has had as a keeper, with no guarantees he will return to his best...i think the club are stupid for not trying to at least listen to offers for him. Seriously, if "reducing wages" was a major priority for the club this summer, how he wasnt even thought about in the transfer market is beyond me.
not sure if the exact wages are correct, i got them from another forum, but Del piero and buffon make up 10 million just in wages...two players who may bring a lot our merchandising side of the business, but definitely two players who we know will miss a fair bit of the season due to injuries (i foresee del piero missing a lot due to his body slowing down).
Yes Buffon can be a great leader, but he needs to be on the field. I wonder if selling Buffon and using the sale and wage gap to get a player like Dzeko or another superstar would have been better for the club.
You cant lead or be captain when sitting in the stands.
You cite his current back injury, etc., and then say that you don't understand why we weren't listening to offers? Not to be an asshole, but think about what you wrote there for a second...
How many clubs do you think were beating down our door with quality offers? Lengthy rehabilitation, huge salary, question marks about his future health... etc., etc. I hope we never sell Buffon, but if we eventually decide to, now is not exactly the time to maximize our return.
Juventus should only sell Gigi is if he asks us to, or if the club gets a VERY good offer... the type of offer that can't logically be refused.
Let him heal up, and see how things go. One of the reasons why he's had all of these injuries the past few seasons is because he was trying to overcome his issues without surgery. Now he's had it, things are cleaned up, and with proper rehab, the problem is supposed to be fixed... I guess we'll see how that goes.
The guy is a reference point for the team, and I have confidence that he has quite a lot of good football left in him.
Also, I disagree that a player can't lead from the stands; obviously his impact is lessened, but he still has a wealth of experience, and we have a lot of youngsters who can learn a great deal from Buffon. He'll be around the club, and right now, with so much turnover and an influx of youngsters, we need his leadership more than ever.
I can't wait to see this man back between the sticks.