A name that is symbolic with goalkeeping, Gianluigi Buffon is considered by many as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, for some his is the greatest. His resume gives strong evidence why he should be in this conversation, winning medals throughout his career for both his club and country, winning titles in Italy and France as well as the World Cup hosted by Germany in 2006.
Buffon has over 1000 games for various clubs throughout his career, starting at Palma Calcio before moving to Juventus for a then record fee of €52 Million, for Juventus Buffon played over 500 games and won multiple league titles, following a short spell at Paris Saint-Germain he returned to Juventus again, making 17 appearances before returning to the club he started his career with Palma when his contract expired.
What makes his career so impressive is that he also played 176 games for the Italian national side, who he represented at each level from under 16's upwards.
Buffon is a part of the Puma brand, a brand he has been a part of for many years and he is a strong icon to hold the puma name, with him still playing regularly for Palma Calcio even late into his long illustrious career
As a part of Puma, Buffon wears a modified pair of the Ultra range, a range that is worn by goalkeepers such as Jordan Pickford and Yann Sommer who each have their own SMU’s. Buffon is no different, he has his own SMU which consists of a variety of differences to the retail model.
Firstly, the latex that is used on Buffon’s gloves is a Quartz latex that is unavailable to the public via the puma brand, whilst it only has a delicate quartz patterning, when up close you can ideas see it is a quartz latex.
Additionally, the gloves are a traditional flat palm cut, which has been Buffon’s cut of choice through most of his career, this is no surprise as he grew to fame during the era where this cut is popular therefore it can be seen why he has stuck with the cut he began his career with. Unlike many flat palm gloves though, Buffon does have a wrap of the thumb on his gloves, therefore offering an extra few centimetres of grip when handling.
The gloves are similar to the takedown retail model in structure with the latex backhand as the top range model consist of a less protective fabric backhand, this is similar to many goalkeepers of Puma who prefer the latex backhand rather than any alternates. Additionally, the gloves have the same gussets as the retail model, both opting to fabric mesh gussets which offer better ventilation compared to some brands who use latex.
To compliment the already classic gloves Buffon opts for the traditional latex strap with his own personalisation printed on, which reads 'BUFFON C.U.I.T'. This personalisation has been seen on gloves for many seasons, even since Puma's change of Silo's.
What do you think of these classic yet modern SMU's?
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