Revealed: Gianluigi Buffon rejected chance to play with Lionel Messi at Barcelona after receiving radio 'sign'

After announcing his decision to leave Juventus in 2021, Buffon was courted by several clubs across Europe seeking his vast experience. Among the offers on the table was one from Barcelona, who were in search of a seasoned goalkeeper to back up their first-choice, Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

The thought of joining the Catalan giants and sharing the pitch with Messi was undeniably appealing to Buffon, who had already spent years playing alongside another football legend, Cristiano Ronaldo. However, he decided to reject La Blaugrana on an impulse during a routine drive.

While on the motorway, Buffon heard Bella, a song by Italian artist Jovanotti, playing on the radio. The track, which Buffon hadn’t heard in over a decade, stirred a sense of nostalgia.

"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’," he began saying during an interview with Corriere della Sera. 

While listening to the track, he came across a sign for Parma on the road and the sign felt like a clear message from fate, reminding him of his roots and the club where his legendary career began: "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."

Buffon returned to Parma 20 years after he had first left them to join Juventus in 2001. During his second stint with the club, Buffon became the first goalkeeper ever in men's association football to reach the milestone of 500 clean sheets. Although he signed an extension with the club until 2024, he hung up his boots on August 2, 2023, at the age of 45.

Barcelona will return to action on November 23 against Celta Vigo in a La Liga encounter. They will be without Ter Stegen for the season after he suffered a knee injury in September.