So, who are the five oldest players in the Premier League right now?
Who are the men who defy Premier League betting odds to keep going well beyond the majority of footballers at the highest level of the game?
This SBOTOP writer has been doing some digging and there are a few names that may surprise you.
Thiago Silva (Chelsea)
When you have enjoyed a stellar career, have a cabinet or mantelpiece (or both) laden with trophies and have contested some of the biggest games world football has witnessed since the turn of the millennium, the easiest and perhaps most obvious thing would to be announce your retirement from the elite game and enjoy the fruits of your labours.
Furthermore, if you are aged 39 years, 11 months and, at the time of writing, 13 days, would you even want to still be competing in the most physically demanding league in the world?
Well yes, it would seem.
Thiago Silva is a classy operator who has nothing to prove.
He has captained Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and the Brazilian national team and won silverware in all those countries, and at international level, in addition to a long list of individual honours.
Affectionately nicknamed ‘The Monster’ by the Brazilian and French press, no wonder Chelsea have kept asking him to extend his contract and stay in west London after he signed on an initial one-year contract in the summer of 2020.
Even at 39 he remains one of the world’s most accomplished and successful defenders and the spine from which Chelsea rely on more than ever during what has been a chaotic 18 months for the club.
Ashley Young (Everton)
He may not have had the career that Silva has enjoyed but, when he does hang up his boots, Ashley Young can look back with much pride.
Aged 38 years, four months and 26 days, the winger turned full-back is still producing consistent displays for Everton after a journey which began at Watford, moved onto Aston Villa, Manchester United, Inter Milan and back to Villa before heading to Goodison Park this summer.
During that time he has completed a clean sweep of the domestic honours with United (Premier League, FA Cup, League Cup), along with the Europa League, and he was also a Serie A champion in 2021 and a member of the England squad which reached the semi-finals of the 2018 World Cup.
When you look back at a compilation reel of his Premier League highlights, they make enjoyable viewing.
James Milner (Brighton)
James Milner is considered ‘Mr Dependable’ and, at the age of 37, 10 months and 31 days, is still proving so on the south coast.
He first burst onto the Premier League scene when the late Terry Venables gave Milner the first of his 600 plus appearances in November 2002, turning to the teenager off the bench as Leeds were holding on to a 4-3 lead in a memorable match away to West Ham.
He is now just seven league games away from going above the country’s most decorated player, Manchester United icon Ryan Giggs, on 632 top-flight appearances.
During that time, Milner has gone on to win the Premier League with two different clubs, as well as the Champions League, with spells at Newcastle, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Liverpool and a transfer fees totalling £44 million.
Equally adept at midfield and full-back, that is a bargain in the modern-day transfer landscape for a single-minded sportsman proving himself again and again.
Tim Ream (Fulham)
The name that has surprised me on the list is American Tim Ream.
Aged 36, one month and 30 days, the Fulham defender may not have enjoyed the stellar career of the others in this list but has been plying his trade in English football since January 2012 when Bolton brought him in from New York Red Bulls
He wasn’t able to keep Bolton up in the Premier League come May but continued in the north-west for a further three seasons before heading to West London and the Thames where he has made approaching 300 appearances, combined between the Premier League and Championship.
Jonny Evans (Manchester United)
Completing the top five is Northern Ireland international Jonny Evans who will be 36 in early January,
He’s back where it all started at Manchester United – signing on loan in the summer but impressing so much amidst an injury crisis that the club was persuaded to offer him a one year deal.
He forged his reputation with impressive loan spells at Antwerp and Roy Keane’s Sunderland before establishing himself as a reliable back-up for the Rio Ferdinand-Nemanja Vidic partnership and winning almost trophy possible with United.
A move to West Bron followed in 2015 until Leicester City came calling in 2018 to spark a five-year spell in the east Midlands which included an FA Cup triumph in 2021.
Evans is a true foot soldier and a player Louis van Gaal agreed to sell during his two-year spell in charge at United when many felt he should have been retained.
While the five players listed above are currently the oldest players in the top flight, the eight eldest in Premier League history are all goalkeepers and the oldest outfield players remains Terry Sheringham who turned out for West Ham in December 2006 in a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City aged 40 and 270 days.
He failed to score in this match but did score only four days earlier in a 2-1 defeat to Portsmouth on Boxing Day, in doing so becoming the oldest scorer in Premier League history (40 years, 268 days). In fact, each of the top four goals scored by the oldest player belong to Sheringham, with Dean Windass the next oldest (39y 235d).
As a side note, Sheringham is also the fourth oldest player – and oldest Englishman – to score in a Champions League final. He was 33 years and 54 days old when netting against Bayern Munich in 1999.
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