Last updated on .From the section European Football

Buffon joined Juventus in 2001 and played 656 times for the Serie A club

Paris St-Germain have signed former Juventus and Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon on a free transfer.

Buffon, 40, left Juventus at the end of last season, ending a 17-year stay at a club where he played 656 times.

The nine-time Serie A winner was rumoured to be offered an off-field role at Juve but has signed a one-year deal with the French champions with the option for a further 12 months.

"I know what dreams PSG and its fans have in their hearts," he said.

"I am going to bring all my energy, all my experience and all of my thirst to win to help my new club achieve all the great objectives it has set out for the future.

"For the first time in my career, I am leaving my country and only a project this ambitious could have encouraged me to make such a decision."

Buffon closed out his Juventus career with a seventh consecutive league title.

He will link up with new PSG head coach Thomas Tuchel at Parc des Princes and is likely to compete with Alphonse Areola for a starting place.

Buffon's professional career has spanned 23 years

Club president, Nasser Al- Khelaifi, said: "The immensity of his career, as well as his ambitious personality, unifying and elegant, make him one of the most admired and respected players in world football.

"His arrival reaffirms our will to always go higher, an ambition that we intend to pursue with a determination just as strong."

Buffon, Italy's most capped player with 176 appearances, retired from national team duty after they failed to qualify for the World Cup.

Buffon won the World Cup with Italy in 2006 but has famously never managed to win the Champions League, losing the 2003 final to AC Milan, in 2014 to Barcelona and in 2017 to Real Madrid.

Paris St-Germain announced the signing of Buffon with a video on social media

Buffon's career in pictures

Buffon made his Serie A debut on 19 November 1995 at the age of 17 years and 295 days in a 0-0 draw between Parma and Milan

He won the Coppa Italia and Uefa Cup in 1999 at Parma in a star-studded team including Lilian Thuram, Fabio Cannavaro, Juan Sebastian Veron and Hernan Crespo

In July 2001, Buffon signed for Juventus in a £23.3m deal - at the time a world record for a goalkeeper

He reached the first of three Champions League finals in 2003, but lost on penalties to AC Milan. Buffon would never win the tournament in his career

Italy won the World Cup in 2006, beating France on penalties. Buffon was named the tournament's best goalkeeper and was runner-up to Italy team-mate Fabio Cannavaro for that year's Ballon d'Or

Buffon stayed with Juventus when they were relegated to Serie B in 2006 following a match-fixing scandal and helped the team win promotion back to Serie A at their first attempt

Juventus won the first of seven consecutive Serie A titles in 2012