On 4 July 2019, after one season away from Juventus, Buffon signed a one-year contract with the club until 30 June 2020. Upon arrival, he was offered the number 1 shirt and the captaincy by Wojciech Szczęsny and Giorgio Chiellini, respectively, but he turned them down, saying "I didn't come back to take something from someone or take it back...I just want to do my bit for the team. It's only right that the starting goalkeeper, Szczsny, has the number 1 jersey. And for the captaincy we have a great player like Giorgio Chiellini." Instead, he chose to wear number 77; the same number he had worn during his final season at Parma, before joining Juventus in 2001. He made his first appearance since his return to the club on 21 September, in a 2–1 home win over Verona in Serie A; this was his 902nd career club appearance, which equalled Paolo Maldini's record as the Italian player with the most career club appearances. On 28 September, he overtook Maldini with his 903rd appearance in a 2–0 home win over SPAL in Serie A.