Gianluigi Buffon is considering another season away from Italy before retiring, according to reports.

The Juventus goalkeeper, who turned 43 earlier this year, has spent 19 out of the last 20 seasons in Turin - making 681 appearances in all competitions for the Old Lady overall.

Buffon spent the 2018-19 season at Paris Saint-Germain but decided to move back to Juventus despite Wojciech Szczesny cementing his place as the Serie A giants' number one goalkeeper.

And according to Italian news outlet Gazzetta dello Sport, Buffon is considering another season away from Italian football with the goalkeeper's Juventus contract running out at the end of the season.

Despite returning to Turin at the start of the 2019-20 season, Buffon has played just 25 matches in all competitions since then, and just five times in the league since former team-mate Andrea Pirlo took over the Juventus reigns at the start of the current campaign.

The Old Lady, who have won the last nine Serie A titles, are undergoing a transition season under Pirlo and lie ten points behind current leaders Inter Milan with 11 games remaining in the Scudetto race.

Buffon has won 11 league titles with Juventus along with four Coppa Italia triumphs and three Champions League runners-up medals, but his short-term future before retiring is under serious threat with Szczesny showing no signs of giving up his gloves.

Gazzetta dello Sport also claims the Old Lady will consider bringing back former shot stoppers Emil Audero or Mattia Perin to the club should Buffon decide to move on.

Audero, 24, came through the youth ranks at Juventus before joining Venezia then Sampdoria on loan, joining the latter on a permanent deal in 2019 where he has been the club's first-choice goalkeeper.

Perin, meanwhile, was Buffon's initial replacement when the legendary shot stopper joined PSG in 2018 but was sent out on loan at the start of the season to Genoa once the 43-year-old established himself as Szczesny's regular back-up option.

Buffon recently revealed he has no intention of retiring from the game and wants to carry on playing for another two years.

'Look, in my head, there truly is a final stop sign, a maximum bar, which is June 2023,' Buffon said in an interview with The Guardian.

'That is the maximum, really, really the maximum. But I could also stop playing in four months.'