5 best midfielders in the world over the age of 30

#3 Jordan Henderson - Liverpool (30 years)

Jordan Henderson celebrates their Premier League win with Liverpool players.

Jordan Henderson must have by now developed the thickest skin possible for a footballer. The midfielder had the best possible season as Liverpool captain last time as he led his club to the Promised Land after dethroning Manchester City to win the Premier league and was also named the PFA Player of the Year for his inspirational play at the heart of the Liverpool midfield.

This is where the criticism began. Henderson was way behind the assist and goals tally of Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester City's star midfielder, and his detractors believed that the 30-year-old Reds midfielder only won because his club were the best team in England.

One must understand that Henderson performs a very different role from that of De Bruyne as a midfielder. Often fielded as a box-to-box or defensive presence or as a right-sided number 8, Henderson's primary job is to keep the ball moving in midfield and turnover possession as a defensive presence.

He might not possess the artistry or creative vision of a Modric, but the 30-year-old knows his job as a midfielder and captain of a star team and is doing it perfectly. He is already an England, Europe and World champion with Liverpool.

#2 Alejandro Dario (Papu) Gomez - Atalanta (32 years)

The Argentinian, Papu Gomez, is one of the contemporary success stories of this list, despite him being an Atalanta midfielder and playing regularly for the club since the 2014-15 season. As his team's stock rose, so did Gomez's with him being rated as one of the best midfielders in Europe by some this season.

Gomez has been part of the Atalanta revolution, leading them as captain to a historic third-place finish in the Serie A and to a quarterfinal spot in the Champions League last season. Gomez, a skillful, goalscoring midfielder is the main cog in Atalanta's irrepressible, dynamic, high-pressing, attacking football side and the 32-year-old netted eight times while assisting 18 goals across all competitions for the little big club from Bergamo.

He has been out of favour with the Argentina side since 2017. Time for a return to the national team's fold, maybe?

#1 Toni Kroos - Real Madrid (30 years)

Toni Kroos might still offer more to the game.

Recently, Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane said it has been an honour for him to coach Toni Kroos. It's very high but very deserved praise for one of the best midfielders in the world, who has just got on to the wrong side of 30, but is showing no signs of slowing down.

Kroos is perhaps the most complete midfielder on this list, with a spectacular range of passing, vision, long-range shooting, ability to get goals and ability to play across various roles in midfield. Kroos does it all beautifully, aesthetically and with a typical German cool head and composure that is bound to engender envy in the best.

Kroos has almost already won every major team honour the game has to offer and, amazingly, moved to Real Madrid to be a part of the new-age Galacticos after having won the Bundesliga, DFB Pokal and the UEFA Champions League.

That is when his transcendence began as he was part of a Real team that Zidane took to new heights, especially in Europe. With Die Mannschaft, Kroos won the World Cup in 2014 where he again played a starring role despite being only 24.

He would probably have won a Ballon'D'Or by now had it not been for the aforementioned duopoly. Well, there is still time.