11 Players You Didn't Know Barcelona Almost Signed

#10 Gianluigi Buffon

Buffon has been a mainstay for five-time Champions

While at Parma, the World Cup winner declined an offer from the Catalan club, having already agreed to join Juventus instead.

Everything was done in good spirits and Buffon remained on very good terms with then Barcelona president Joan Gaspart, thanking him for his interest in securing his services.

In an interview with former Juventus goalkeeper, Gianluigi Buffon revealed, he nearly joined Barcelona instead of the Serie A giants.

Many years later, Buffon explained during an interview with Sportmediaset that: “However, I decided to join Juventus after discussing it with my father and I'm still grateful for it. Being at Juventus is a unique experience and has brought me a lot of satisfaction"

According to Goal.com, the World Cup-winning Italy goalkeeper joined Juventus for £32.6m in 2001.

He left Parma to join Juventus in 2001 and since then the 40-year-old has gone on to become one of the greatest and iconic goalkeepers of all-time, winning seven-Scudetti among other trophies.

Buffon has been a mainstay for five-time defending champions.

Gianluigi Buffon has signed an initial one-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain after leaving Juventus, the Ligue 1 champions have announced. But he decided against retirement after his contract in Turin expired this year's summer.

After this, he reached a 12-month agreement to join Paris Saint-Germain with the option of a one more year.