Buffon transferred from Parma to Juventus on 3 July 2001 for €52 million, along with former Parma teammate Lilian Thuram, and was handed the number 1 shirt as the starting goalkeeper, replacing Edwin van der Sar, who was sold to Fulham. Buffon later said that there had been an initial possibility for him to join Roma, but they signed Ivan Pelizzoli instead, and although negotiations were ongoing with Barcelona, he chose Juventus because his father convinced him he would be likely to achieve his ambition of winning the "Scudetto". This transfer fee made Buffon Juventus's most expensive purchase ever, a record which was broken in 2016 by the acquisition of Gonzalo Higuaín.