Alessandro Del Piero has now retired, and he appears to be enjoying retirement, most recently giving a two page interview to Gazzetta dello Sport.
Despite talking a whole bunch about Juventus, as one would expect, he does recall a time when he came very close to signing for Celtic around the time he left the Serie A champions.
This came after he was asked by the Italian newspaper if he could imagine Juventus against Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League with Gianluigi Buffon playing for the French side.
He said: “When I left, I had the chance of playing for Celtic. I refused that and other offers because I’d already decided to leave Europe, but that year, Juventus and Celtic played each other in the last sixteen.
“I thought ‘it’s a good thing I didn’t go’. If that happens to Gigi, it’ll be his business. Seriously, though, I’ll follow him out of love, but if it’s Juventus vs Paris Saint-Germain, I’ll have to root against him.”
In the end, instead of bringing in the Italian superstar, Celtic, in the summer of 2012-13, ended up signing Fraser Forster from Newcastle, and a certain 20-year-old attacking midfielder called Tom Rogic.
Oh, and Lassad Nouioui from Deportivo La Coruña on a free transfer.
During his time at Juventus, which spanned from 1993 to 2012, Alessandro Del Piero made 706 appearances, scored 290 goals and helped his teammates with 69 assists
