I Rejected The Opportunity To Be Messi’s Teammate At Barcelona – Buffon

Goalkeeping legend, Gianluigi Buffon has come out to say that he turned down the opportunity to play with Lionel Messi at Barcelona. He recently had his say while speaking to the press, and fans have been reacting.

According to him, Barcelona offered him the chance to be their second goalie years ago, but he rejected the opportunity after a song he heard on the radio reminded him of his Parma roots.

Buffon added that the song felt like a sign to join Parma at the time, and it stirred up a sense of nostalgia within him.

His words, “I had an offer from Barcelona to be second goalkeeper: I liked the idea of playing with Messi, after CR7. One day, however, I was driving and on the radio, they played a song by Jovanotti that I liked and that I hadn’t heard for ten years: ‘Bella’,

I looked up and saw the Parma sign on the motorway. It was a sign. And that’s how I ended my career, where it all began.”

WOW.

Futbol Club Barcelona is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football.

Founded in 1899 by a group of Swiss, Catalan, German, and English footballers led by Joan Gamper, the club has become a symbol of Catalan culture and Catalanism, hence the motto “Més que un club” (“More than a club”). Unlike many other football clubs, the supporters own and operate Barcelona. It is the third-most valuable sports team in the world, worth $5.51 billion, and the world’s fourth richest football club in terms of revenue, with an annual turnover of €582.1 million.

The official Barcelona anthem is the “Cant del Barça”, written by Jaume Picas and Josep Maria Espinàs. Barcelona traditionally play in dark shades of blue and garnet stripes, hence nicknamed Blaugrana.

In March 2021, Lionel Messi overtook Xavi’s record of 767 games played for the club, and presently has made 778 official appearances in all competitions, while also holding the record for the most appearances in La Liga matches for Barcelona, with 520.