Gianluigi Buffon and Giorgio Chiellini sign new deals at Juventus

Veteran pair, aged 42 and 35, to remain at Serie A table-toppers for another year

Juventus' Gianluigi Buffon, right, and Giorgio Chiellini have signed new deals at Juventus. Reuters

Juventus goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon before the Serie A match at Bologna on June 22, 2020. AFP

Gianluigi Buffon kicks the ball during Juventus' Italian Cup final defeat against Napoli on June 17, 2020. AP

Juventus keeper Gianluigi Buffon and Cristiano Ronaldo during the Italian Cup final against Napoli in Rome. AFP

Gianluigi Buffon during the Italian Cup final. AFP

Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini during a training session in Turin on May 22, 2020. Getty

Juventus captain Giorgio Chiellini during a training session in Turin on March 10, 2020. Getty

AC Milan striker Gonzalo Higuain, right, argues with Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini after the striker had been sent-off during a Serie A match in November 2018. AFP

Juventus' Giorgio Chiellini challenges for a header with Manchester United striker Romelu Lukaku during the Champions League match in October, 2018. Reuters

Giorgio Chiellini, left, battles with Romelu Lukaku. AP Photo

Veterans Gianluigi Buffon and Giorgio Chiellini have extended their Juventus contracts until 2021.

The new deals, long expected to be confirmed by Juve, mean that former Italy captain Buffon will stay with the Turin-based club beyond his 43rd birthday.

Juventus currently sit at the top of Serie A, four points clear of second-placed Lazio.

"There are players who need no introduction,” Juventus said on a statement published on the club website on Monday. “Champions whose story speaks for itself, and whose connection with the shirt they wear is indissoluble.

“Examples on the pitch and in the locker room, leaders, driving forces, bearers of the Bianconeri DNA, who wear it as a second skin.

“Gianluigi Buffon. Giorgio Chiellini. Captains, legends. Bianconeri since the beginning. Bianconeri forever. And to confirm it, in case there is a need, today their contract renewals have become official, for another: 2021!”

Buffon returned to Juve last summer after a disappointing season at Paris Saint-Germain and is the club's all-time record Serie A appearance maker, turning out 479 times in the league since arriving in 2001.

With Juventus he has won the league nine times but his only European trophy came when he lifted the Uefa Cup with Parma in 1999.

He is Serie A's joint record appearance holder with Paolo Maldini, playing in Italy's top-flight 647 times, and also holds the appearance record for his national team, with 176 caps between 1997-2018, winning the 2006 World Cup.

He has made 13 appearances in all competitions this season, with Wojciech Szczesny now Juve's first-choice keeper.

The 35-year-old Chiellini, who succeeded Buffon as Juve and Italy captain, joined the club in 2005 and has since become a stalwart in one of the Turin giants' most successful periods.

He has won eight league titles and four Italian Cups, although he has missed most of this season due to a cruciate ligament injury suffered in August.