Sky Sports have reported that Italy and Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is open to a move to Arsenal. They have quoted his agent, who has stated that contact has been made with the club, and Arsenal are a “welcome solution.”

Juventus are currently being investigated by Italian authorities on allegations of matchfixing and bribery and if reports from Italian paper Gazetta (put the link in GoogleTranslate for a dodgy translation) are to be believed, Juventus are likely to be relegated to Serie B (I doubt that very much, though). In that case, it appears Buffon is ready for a move to North London.

However, Buffon’s got a pricetag of around 18 million pounds (which could come down to around 10 if Juve are relegated) and will demand a massive salary. These could prove to be a problem for Arsenal.

That said, Buffon’s just 28, which is an excellent age to sign a keeper of proven quality. He’s got at least 5 good years ahead of him, and despite Jens Lehmann having an excellent season, he’s not getting any younger and our contact with Buffon shows that Wenger’s scouting for replacements already. Buffon’s one of the three keepers that I rate as the best in the world, along with Iker Casillas and Petr Cech. While this is still early news and mostly speculation, if Buffon arrives at the Grove next season, it will be one of the best signings we’ve made for quite a while.

Fingers crossed.

[tags]Arsenal, Buffon, Juventus[/tags]