Man City's Interest In Gigi Buffon Lingers On

Friday, November 21, 2008 -- Premier League heavy spenders Manchester City seem to have resurfaced their interest in the Italian international goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon as reports in the Italian sports daily Gazzetta dello Sport seem to suggest.

Manchester City were taken over by the Abu Dhabi based group ADUG in the summer and quicky signed te Brazilian international Robinho from Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid for around 42 million euros. They have since been linked with a number of top draw players including Buffon.

City's interest in the shot-stopper was fended off by Juventus at the time but it seems that Man City are still interested in the player. The Gazzetta has reported that City are putting together a bid of 75 million euros for who is one of the three best custodians in the world.

Juventus have denied that they are even going to think about selling Buffon but the amount could prove crucial later on. Juve are constructing a new stadium which should be ready by 2011 but the cost of building that stadium is said to be around the 100 million euro mark.

Juventus' managing director Jean Claude Blanc had this to say about the report to Sky Italia:

"Buffon accepted relegation to Serie B and he always said he wanted to remain here, therefore he will not be leaving.

"We know that many of the world's biggest clubs are after him but none of them have made any contact with us because it has been Gigi himself who has always closed the door to them.

"He wants to stay here and we will not be selling him."