Gianluigi Buffon welcomes challenge from Wojciech Szczesny as Juventus near £14m deal with Arsenal

On the move: Szczesny is set to leave Arsenal this summer
AFP/Getty Images
James Benge12 June 2017

Gianluigi Buffon has welcomed the challenge he expects to be posed by Wojciech Szczesny if the Arsenal goalkeeper completes his move to Juventus.

The Italian champions hope to bring in Szczesny as a long-term successor to their No.1 of over 15 years and are in advanced talks with Arsenal over a £14million deal.

Signing the Polish international would not only give them a high-grade backup but would serve to deprive one of their closest rivals, Roma, of a top performer.

Szczesny spent two years on loan at the Stadio Olimpico, establishing himself as one of Serie A’s top goalkeepers and Buffon believes the incoming 27-year-old could do more than just keep the bench warm.

“This could be the last year and I would like to be a protagonist, as I have always dreamed of being,” Buffon told reporters. “To do that, I have to be important. I will work for this next year.”

“I've always been a rational person and I've always looked for the meaning of things. It's right that Juve want Szczesny and that there is a good player like [18-year-old AC Milan goalkeeper Gianluigi] Donnarumma at the national team.

“For me, it will be a great motivation twice because, although I am 39-40 years, I have to maintain my place. If I no longer want to play, I'll stay at home because Donnarumma and Szczesny are good goalkeepers by merit, not because someone gave them something.”

REUTERS

Roma had been clear that they wanted Szczesny to stay in the Italian capital but are likely to be disappointed in a summer that will prove to see great churn for Arsenal on the goalkeeping front.

David Ospina has confirmed he is set for talks with Arsenal over his future ahead of a likely move for Fenerbahce. Jordan Pickford could join from Sunderland as Petr Cech’s long-term successor whilst the highly-rated Emiliano Martinez will hope for further opportunities.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in