Italian international rejected chance to join Spanish Champions.
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Gianluigi Buffon has revealed that he turned down a move to Barcelona before he decided to join Juventus from Parma, Sky Sports reports.
The 35-year-old claims that the Spanish giants wanted to bring him to the Nou Camp shortly before he decided to leave Parma for a big money move to Turin back in 2001.
And Buffon, who has been with Juve since making that original move 12 years ago, has insisted that he has no regrets over his decision to turn the Catalan club down.
“I could have joined Barcelona in 2001,” Buffon told Mediaset.
“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.
“And let’s not forget that Barcelona back then were nothing like the team they are now.”
Earlier this year Buffon signed an extension onto his current deal that will keep him with the Bianconieri until 2015 later went on to reveal that before he put pen-to-paper on that deal he had the chance to join up with a number of eastern European clubs.
“My contract renewal was another milestone for me,” added Buffon.
“I could have gone to Eastern Europe for a lot of money, but I opted to stay at Juventus.
“I want to keep on playing for many more years and I want to keep on surprising people.”