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Retirement is a tricky and emotional business for all sportspersons, footballers included, who have the shortest shelf-life among all professionals. Suddenly bidding goodbye to the life they had been known for, with the attendant fame, glory and money, is one of the toughest calls to make in a sportsperson's career, especially a footballer's.
While most top footballers return to the sport in some form, either as a manager or an agent, the pure adrenaline rush of being out on the field can never be replaced or replicated.
5 great footballers who could be retiring in 2021
There have been footballers like Eric Cantona, who chose to leave the sport at a relatively young age while still on top of their game, to pursue other interests. However, the current trend among big-name footballers is to further their careers in leagues in Asia or the US, where the demands on their bodies is less strenuous, but the money earned is good.
In this article, we will look at five such footballers, most of them being based in Europe and battling it out gallantly in the top leagues, who might just decide to call it a day come next year.
So, without further ado, let's get started.
#5 Lukasz Piszczek
(Age-35)
A two-time Bundesliga champion with Borussia Dortmund, Lukasz Piszczek has been a faithful servant of the German club since 2010-11 and played an instrumental role in them becoming German champions as well as reaching the Champions League final in 2013.
The Polish right-back had actually announced that he would quit the game in 2020, before signing a one-year extension that keeps him at the club till 2021. When he finally calls time on his career, he will definitely go down as a Dortmund legend, one who did not always hog the limelight but was a pillar on which the team's successes were built upon.
#4 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
(Age-39)
This is the riskiest call on this list, especially considering the fact that Zlatan Ibrahimovic is in astonishing form right now and is seemingly single-handedly taking AC Milan forward.
The Rossoneri are on top of the 2020-21 Serie A table, winning five of their opening six games of the season, but their 24-game winning streak in all competitions recently came to an end with a defeat in the Europa League against Olympique Lyon.
We are, after all, mere mortals, but Zlatan is well, Zlatan. Despite being one of the greatest footballers of all time, one with almost superhuman physical attributes, age is bound to catch up with the 39-year-old player at some point. He might just choose to go out on a great high if Milan manage to end Juventus' hegemony over the Scudetto.
The only reason he might want to play on? If he thinks he can win the Champions League with Milan, one major piece of silverware missing from his cupboard...or because he just wants to go on playing, because, well, he is Zlatan!
#3 Wayne Rooney
(Age-35)
Derby County are currently last in the 24-team EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football pyramid. They are captained (and coached) by Wayne Rooney. Yes, the same Wayne Rooney who won five Premier League titles and one Champions League title with Manchester United, the same Wayne Rooney who is the record goal-scorer for both England and the Red Devils.
One of the greatest-ever attackers in England's storied football history, it is certainly a strange position that Rooney finds himself in at 35. But to be honest, he chose this path himself.
His career choices post United have been strange, to say the least. While his great rivals such as Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo continued to shine at top clubs, he first went to Everton at just 32 and then to the MLS.
Nevertheless, it seems inexorable that Rooney will transition to a full-time managerial position sooner rather than later.
#2 Franck Ribery
(Age-37)
When Franck Ribery decided to say au revoir to Bayern Munich after a truly historic spell, he said that he had two more seasons left in his tank. If that be the case, that would set his retirement date sometime in 2021.
Since then, the great winger who struck up one of the greatest wide-player partnerships with Arjen Robben at Bayern, has done his legacy no harm at Fiorentina. In 27 games for La Viola, he has scored thrice and assisted five goals, but that does not mean he intends to go on forever.
With Fiorentina being at best a middling club at the moment, one cannot see what could motivate the former French international to go on with them, especially after the lofty heights he hit with the Bavarians.
#1 Gianluigi Buffon
(Age-42)
Yes, we all get his eternal love for the Old Lady; yes, we get that he has never won the Champions League with them despite finishing runners-up with them thrice. However, we still do not get why the 40-something Gianluigi Buffon, one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, is happy being a mediocre, bit-part player for Juventus.
Buffon says that it is his passion for the game that is preventing him from calling time on his career, but is this prolonged spell past his prime doing any good to his great legacy? The jury is out on that, but one thing seems likelier every season: he may want to go on until the club actually tells him to stop!
Special mention: Andres Iniesta (though it is likely he could go on for a while longer.)
