Old, they say, is gold. Almost wherever we look, we can see that experience matters a lot. Even for entry level jobs, company seek experienced campaigners. It’s the same even in football as managers often value experience over talented youth.
The title of this slideshow might be five of the oldest players in Europe’s top four leagues, but in truth it was five of the oldest players in Serie A as the oldest active and contracted players in Europe’s top four leagues all ply their trade in Serie A.
No wonder why they call it the league of experience. So here are the top five oldest players in Europe’s top four leagues (free agents have been ignored)…
#5 Sergio Pelissier – 38 years and 2 months
Sergio Pelissier is a striker who plays for Chievo Verona while also captaining the team. He started off his career from Torino’s youth academy before joining his current club in 2000.
However, it wasn’t before 2002 that he became a regular with the team. After spending about two years on loan at then Serie C1 club, SPAL, he returned to Chievo for the 2002-03 season and has been with them ever since.
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This long and successful partnership bore a lot of fruits as he is now the club’s record goalscorer and is an idol to the fans. At the height of his career, he went on to earn a single cap for the national team and topped it off with a goal on his international debut.
#4 Stefano Sorrentino – 38 years and 3 months
At the far end of the pitch, the player furthest to the goalkeeper, is Serie A’s 5th oldest player. And on this end, the goalkeeper itself, is just a month older than the striker and takes the fourth spot on this list.
Stefano Sorrentino is a goalkeeper for Chievo after returning to the club last year. Prior to this spell – his second at the club – he played for the club from 2009 to 2013 before joining Palermo for three years and then subsequently returning to Chievo.
The goalkeeper was a part of Juventus’ academy, playing there for only a year before signing for rivals, Torino. As he is a goalkeeper, it isn’t surprising to see him on the list. At all. He now has a contract that runs till 2018, making him the 4th oldest active player in Europe’s top 4 leagues.
#3 Gianluigi Buffon – 39 years and 6 months
The man. The myth. The legend. Gianluigi Buffon is perhaps the greatest ‘keeper of the modern era. While the likes of David De Gea and Manuel Neuer are praised consistently, it is actually Buffon who exudes the truest meaning of the word consistency.
The legendary Italy number 1 joined the Old Lady in 2001 for a record fee of €52 million, making him the most expensive goalkeeper of all time – a record he carries till date if calculations are made in Euros (Ederson Morales cost Manchester City €40 million, but £35 million in pounds – which is more than the £32 million pound that Juventus spent for him).
What happened after that is known to most of us. The exemplary goalkeeper stuck with the Turin outfit ever since joining and actually went down by one level when he played in Serie B as a result of Juventus getting relegated due to Calciopoli.
The Juventus number 1 has won every accolade there is to win as a club player, except for the Champions League. But given that he is aging like wine, there is a good chance that he might end up winning it eventually.
#2 Albano Bizzarri – 39 years and 8 months
During his youth days, he was regarded as one of the most talented goalkeepers to come out from Argentina. As usual, some big clubs circled him like vultures over meat and then Real Madrid came calling – and you don’t refuse the greatest club of the 20th century.
However, after seeing his way blocked by the emerging Iker Casillas, he was sold to Real Valladolid in 2000, where he spent the next six years. The man was so fit that he actually didn’t miss a single league game from 2002 to 2004 , but couldn’t stop his team from getting relegated in 2004.
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The highest point in Bizzarri’s life was that he played in seven league games for Real Madrid and was also the part of the team team that won the Champions League in 2000. He is somewhat of a journeyman within Spain and Italy, turning out for several lower mid-table and mid-table clubs before recently signing a year’s contract with Udinese.
#1 Marco Storari – 40 years and 7 months
Between all this fuss about Gianluigi Donnarumma, one of the low-key goalkeeper stories about AC Milan went under the radar as Marco Storari has apparently signed an extension for another year with the Rossoneri.
At one point in time, Marco Storari was the first choice goalkeeper for Milan, thanks to an injury to then-first choice Christian Abbiati and the decline of Brazilian goalkeeper, Dida. However, he became the victim of injury himself and lost his place to Dida and was subsequently sold off to Juventus.
Once in Turin, as an understudy to Gianluigi Buffon, Storari won four back-to-back Serie A titles before heading to Cagliari and then back to Milan. Right now, he is the backup to a goalkeeper almost 22 years his junior – working as somewhat of a mentor for Donnarumma while the talented youngster picks up his skills.
