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Age is a very important factor in professional football. A player usually reaches his peak in his mid to late twenties, and when he enters his thirties, he starts to decline. Naturally, it is difficult to keep up with the rigours and demands of top-flight European football.
But there are still several players who continue to defy age and are performing at the highest levels, even though they might be well past their peak.
The perfect example is Gianluigi Buffon, who is still first choice for a team like Juventus that continuously challenges for both domestic and European titles, at the age of 39. Francesco Totti retired only last year, at the age of 40.
Here we take a look at the 5 best Premier League players who are 35 or older.
5. Michael Carrick
Manchester United signed Michael Carrick in the summer of 2006, which makes him their oldest serving player right now. He is also the oldest member of the squad and took over the captaincy from the departing Wayne Rooney at the start of the season.
He might not be the first choice in midfield this year after the arrival of Nemanja Matic from Chelsea, but he was a consistent first team member throughout last season, forming a formidable midfield trio with Herrera and Pogba.
At his peak, Carrick was one of the best deep-lying playmakers in the Premier League. His defensive awareness enables him to make crucial interceptions to break down attacks and start moves from his own half with his pinpoint passing.
He was never really a fast player to begin with. So age hasn't robbed him of his pace. Instead, his tactical intelligence enables him to keep up with the speed of English football with his quick passes and his anticipation of threats from the opposition and attacking opportunities for his teammates.
His defensive attributes and passing range remain good enough to merit a place on this list, and with injuries to Pogba and Fellaini reducing Mourinho's midfield options, he might get a chance to prove himself to the Portuguese boss. His performance against Burton proved that he is still as sharp as ever, so don't be surprised if he makes a comeback to the starting XI.
4. Phil Jagielka
The 35-year-old English centre-back is another Premier League captain on this list. Everton signed him in the summer window of 2007 from Sheffield United, and since then, he has been a constant presence in the Toffees' backline.
At the start of 2016/17, a combination of age and the emergence of Ramiro Funes Mori forced him out of contention, but he made a comeback when the Argentine suffered a knee injury on national duty in March 2017.
This season, the signing of Michael Keane was expected to alienate him further, but Ronald Koeman's three-man-defence setup allowed him to play alongside Keane and Ashley Williams.
However, successive losses to Chelsea, Tottenham and United prompted Koeman to drop Jagielka and revert to four at the back. It resulted in a rather unconvincing 2-1 win over Bournemouth, but unfortunately, it means that the former Sheffield youth product is unlikely to break into the first team ahead of Keane and Williams.
He does, however, provide much-needed depth to a very leaky defence that has conceded the third most number of goals in the league so far. His experience will prove to be valuable for Everton's several young and upcoming defenders like Mason Holgate.
His 40 caps for England is quite impressive, considering the fact that his professional career overlapped with that of Rio Ferdinand and John Terry. While he might not be in the mould of legends like them, his no-nonsense style of defending and towering presence within the box has seen him play at the highest level well into his thirties, and he might go on for a couple more years before retiring.
3. Gareth Barry
The seasoned warhorse was the one grabbing all the attention in the weekend when West Brom travelled to the Emirates to face Arsenal, as he broke Ryan Giggs' record for when he made his 633rd Premier League appearance, which is no mean feat when you consider the legends that have graced the English top flight.
The 36-year-old has played for Aston Villa, Man City, Everton and West Brom in his long and accomplished career, even winning the league title with City in 2012 (a season in which he made 34 league appearances).
He has made at least 30 PL appearances in every season starting from 1998/99, except for 2001/02 (20 appearances). Such incredible levels of consistency are a testament to his fitness and adaptability since he has fit right into each team that he has played for.
Last season, he was voted Everton's Player of the Year ahead of Romelu Lukaku, which is proof that he is still an excellent holding midfielder capable of playing with the best players in the Premier League.
Barry's consistency comes down to his simple style of play. His passing is accurate, and he's strong in the air, and often likes to float long balls across the field, which is perfectly suited to West Brom's highly physical, target-man style of play.
He has 53 caps for England but is unlikely to break into the national squad anymore, with his last appearance coming in 2012. But as far as the Premier League is concerned, he will definitely be a central figure in midfield for West Brom for at least another couple of years, and there is every possibility that his incredible record might never be broken.
2. Petr Cech
It's no surprise that there are more goalkeepers older than 35 than all the other positions put together. But Cech is arguably the only one who's truly world class.
He is definitely the best Czech footballer of his generation. He holds the most number of caps for his country, with 124. He captained the national side from 2007 until his eventual international retirement in 2016.
But he still remains the undisputed Arsenal number 1. He was Arsenal's only signing in the summer of 2015 following the departure of Wojciech Szcz?sny to Roma on loan. Earlier, the Gunners had been struggling to settle on one first-choice goalkeeper thanks to the inconsistencies of both Szcz?sny and David Ospina.
Cech solved Wenger's biggest problem when he joined from fierce rivals Chelsea for a fee of 10 million pounds.
The fact that Arsenal were willing to pay that much for a 33-year-old goalkeeper speaks for itself. He had moved down the pecking order at Chelsea thanks to the emergence of Belgian shot-stopper Thibaut Courtois. His first match for Arsenal was a 1-0 win over his former team at the FA Community Shield.
He holds some unique records at both the London clubs. With 486 appearances, he is Chelsea's highest overseas appearance maker. He took the fewest number of appearances in PL history to reach 100 clean sheets (180 matches), and also has the joint highest number of shutouts (21) in a single season.
He's won four league titles and one UCL title at Chelsea and was also voted Man of the Match in the 2012 final in Munich. He has a record 9 Czech Footballer of the Year titles and is also the only player to have won the Golden Glove with two separate teams.
In all of their ups and downs over the past couple of seasons, Cech has never given the Gunners any reason to doubt his presence in the starting lineup, and will definitely be their number one for at least another four years.
1. Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan tore his ACL in a Europa League match against Anderlecht on 20th April, and many feared that it would finally signal the end of an eventful career.But the outspoken Swedish striker's miraculous recovery, which led to a new one-year deal with Manchester United, will see him make a comeback in December or January.
Last season, he became the oldest player (at 35 years and 125 days) ever to score 15 or more PL goals in a single season.
His longevity at the highest levels of professional football is absolutely baffling. Having been given a chance to comfortably see out his career in the MLS, he instead chose to stay at United at the start of this season, for another shot at winning the one major league title that has eluded him so far.
For all his arrogance, his determination has to be admired. A ligament tear would have ended the career of any other 35-year-old on the planet, but Zlatan, as he himself said, only gets better with age. If it hadn't been for his injury and some poor finishing last season, he might have ended up winning the Golden Boot ahead of Harry Kane.
Lukaku's signing this season might limit his first-team chances, but there is absolutely no doubting his quality. If Mourinho so wishes, he can play both of them in a 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 system, which, as Manchester City have shown this season, can be a successful tactic in the Premier League.
With United's strong start to the season, there is a very high possibility that Zlatan will win the 12th league title of his career. And don't be surprised if he continues to play for another 3 to 4 years.
