Lippi: Don't retire yet Buffon
Italy's World Cup winning manager Marcello Lippi has urged Juventus' Gianluigi Buffon not to retire at the end of the season with the goalkeeper close to breaking a Serie A record.
In an interview with 'Radio Rai', Lippi has advised the 39-year-old to continue playing for one more year.
He said: "If I could, I'd tell him to retire when he feels ready because I think that deep down, the appearance record in Serie A could interest him."
Buffon has made 629 Serie A appearances for Juventus and Parma since 1995 but the Italian's one season in Serie B may hamper his chances of holding the record, if he were to retire at the end of this season.
Paolo Maldini is currently the most-capped player with 647 Italian league appearances for AC Milan between 1984 and 2009.
However, with only 17 league games left the shot-stopper would fall an agonising two short of breaking that figure.
Buffon has made 666 league appearances in total, however, Juventus spent the 2006/7 season in Serie B which means that 37 of those games fail to count towards the record.