EXCLUSIVE: GUNNERS POISED TO POUNCE ON JUVE STAR
By Steve Stammers
ARSENAL are ready to make a £15million move for Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon - if his club are relegated as a result of the match-fixing scandal in Italy.
Juve, along with AC Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio, are accused of rigging results and the trial began last Thursday but has been adjourned until tomorrow.
Among the sanctions that can be applied if Juventus and the others are found guilty is relegation - and that will mean 28-year-old Buffon could be available for transfer at less than half the world record £33m Juve paid Parma five years ago.
And Buffon would be as keen to leave Juventus as the club would be to sell him.
Juventus would be deprived of the massive, multi-million-pound income that is generated by playing Serie A football in Italy and from their annual participation in the lucrative Champions League.
But they would still have massive financial commitments to players such as Buffon, who is thought to earn about £50,000 a week.
On Serie B income, Juventus would have to sell to survive and that will prompt a fire-sale of their top stars. Buffon interests Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger. He has always been reluctant to spend big money on players and the club record currently stands at the £16m paid to Seville for Jose Antonio Reyes. The most he has paid for a keeper was £800,000 to Borussia Dortmund for Jens Lehmann three years ago. But although Lehmann had an outstanding domestic season which earned him a new one-year deal, he will be 37 in November and the next campaign looks certain to be his last.
Buffon would have the appeal of being a long-term investment. At 28, the man who is rated by many as the best keeper in the world still has at least six years left at the top level. Even at £15m, the fee would be seen as a bargain.
The competition for his signature will be fierce. But a new challenge like the Premiership might appeal to Buffon, who would share first-team duties with Lehmann next season and step in as the established No.1 when the German leaves.
