The Players Who Made Surprisingly Brilliant Late Career Moves
A yard (or three) of pace has gone, you're nowhere near as sharp as you used to be in the air, and suddenly you're being dragged all over the park by a 19-year-old winger... do you try and fight it out at the level you're at, or take that sweet, sweet MLS contract?
It's one of the ultimate dilemmas for any player in their 30s, and with David Silva edging closer to a Serie A move with Lazio, it would appear that the allure of continuing to prove that you've got what it takes to rub shoulders with the elite remains as powerful as the allure of the so-called 'retirement leagues'.
Of course, sometimes it's not the worst idea to phone it in - just ask Rio Ferdinand, who probably regrets not sending QPR's call to voicemail in 2014, or Claudio Bravo, who went from one of the most decorated goalkeepers in Europe to one of English football's most notorious punchlines.
But when it goes right? You get one of the most glorious spectacles in football - a truly vintage player showing that they can mix it with the best of the young whippersnappers. Here's 90min's list of football's best late-career moves.
Zlatan Ibrahimović (Manchester United)
How have we let 'Zlatan' get away with a level of self-mythologization which falls somewhere between Napoleon and David Brent? Well, it helps that he is annoyingly good at matching up to his boasts, even well into his twilight years.
'I won’t be King of Manchester. I will be God of Manchester', was the shy and retiring Swede's humble prediction when he moved to Old Trafford in 2016, but many of his detractors were licking their lips - there's no way this hashtag fraud would be able to succeed in the mighty Barclays at the age of 34.
As it turned out, a chap who had already lobbed Joe Hart with a bicycle kick was just as dominant in English football as he was elsewhere, scoring 17 goals in his debut season and settling the EFL Final with a trademark thumping header.
I still refuse to call him 'The Lion', though...
Esteban Cambiasso (Leicester)
Antonio Nocerino in West Ham colours, Andrea Ranocchia getting relegated with Hull, literally everyone QPR signed in the early 2010s... signings like Esteban Cambiasso never work, and yet the Argentine defied all logic to become a Foxes icon as they battled relegation in the 2014/15 season.
Having won five Serie A titles, not to mention the Champions League, Cambiasso probably never foresaw himself dragging a Nigel Pearson side to safety alongside Andy King and Danny Drinkwater in midfield, but that he did, a metronomic presence and fan favourite as Leicester avoided relegation in a season where they were rock bottom as late as April.
But there's a tantalising 'what if' tacked on to the classy midfielder's stay in the Midlands - after scoring a superlative, swerving left-footed screamer in his farewell game against QPR, Cambiasso refused a one-year extension to his contract. The season which he elected to miss out on? The most extraordinary in Leicester's history...
Jürgen Klinsmann (Tottenham, Second Spell)
One of England's great tournament nemeses in the 1990s, everyone knows the tale of how Klinsmann, with his diving headers and diving celebrations, charmed his way into the hearts of English football fans during a stunning spell with Tottenham in the mid-90s.
But if the 1994/95 season was a great lark for Spurs fans stuck in the mid-table doldrums, the 1997/98 season was rather more urgent - with the Lilywhites in danger of dropping out of the Premier League altogether.
Cue the return of a 33-year-old Klinsmann in December, who, like Cambiasso, provided that touch of class to help his side escape by the skin of their teeth. Nine goals in just 15 games - including four in one match against relegation rivals Wimbledon - lifted Spurs to four points above the drop zone, and ensured that the German's grandchildren will still be getting free pints in N17.
Fabio Quagliarella (Sampdoria)
When the sun has burnt out and the earth has frozen over, the only form of life left in the universe will be Fabio Quagliarella.
The Italian striker, now 37 and still good for a cheeky 10+ Serie A goals, speaks of retirement with a tone of utter disdain - of Sampdoria, his home since joining as a fresh-faced 33-year-old, he simply growled: 'unless they kick me out, I’m staying here'.
And why would he? The man who beat out Ciro Immobile, Duvan Zapata and this geezer called Cristiano Ronaldo to the Italian top-flight's top goalscorer award during 2018/19 has clearly found a way to enter his prime in his late 30s, and we can only look forward to him batting questions about his retirement away well into his 70s.
Dani Alves (Juventus, Paris Saint-Germain)
While it's pretty common for forwards to seamlessly adapt their game as they get older, with the likes of Ronaldo working on conserving their energy so they can use it at the right moments, defenders, punished for any lack of sharpness whatsoever at the highest level, famously age like milk.
And playing as a Champions League-level fullback into your 30s? Given the combination of speed and mental agility which the role entails, you might as well just cut your losses and accept that punditry job before you embarrass yourself.
Unless you're Dani Alves, that is.
The man who was one of Messi's greatest ever accomplices won eight trophies after leaving Barcelona, a key player for Juve as they reached the 2017 Champions League final and an old dog with new tricks at PSG as he made a habit of an occasional appearances in midfield.
Wayne Rooney (Derby)
The story of Wayne Rooney's career has been that of a man moving further and further back down the pitch, with the exuberant, frighteningly direct teenage Evertonian having rebranded himself as a bit of an Andrea Pirlo in his autumn years - he'll probably be playing in goal in five seasons' time.
While this wasn't quite the tonic for England, at Championship level it's pretty effective, and extremely fun to watch, with the Roon having the freedom and time to take a touch before unleashing a probing diagonal.
England's record goalscorer hasn't been an unqualified success like the other players on this list, but is one of the few older stars to have voluntarily subject himself to the fast-paced rough-and-tumble of the Championship, all while adopting an unfamiliar tactical role.
Add that to the fact that he's learned how to use Twitter properly now, and you have a textbook example of growing old gracefully.
Raúl (Schalke 04)
When you're 33, it's pretty easy just to move somewhere sunny and lucrative, to a club which may have only existed for around ten years where pressure and historical expectations won't be weighing you down. You'd have to be a brave man to instead choose Ralf Rangnick breathing down your neck during one of Schalke 04's greatest ever European campaigns.
But, somehow, after a career spent in the Bernabeu pressure, Raúl chose the latter - and it became yet another highlight of his glowing legacy.
Put simply, the man was clutch. He scored the only goal of the game against Bayern Munich to take
Die Königsblauen to a DFB Pokal final which they would eventually win, and scored three goals across four knockout games to take Schalke to their first ever Champions League semi-final.
His impact was such that Schalke even retired the number seven shirt, before making the very strange decision of un-retiring it two years later for Crystal Palace legend Max Meyer.
Santi Cazorla (Villareal)
If there's one clear precedent for El Mago to follow in his Lazio move, it's his fellow diminutive Spaniard, whose own magical powers were alluded to during his unveiling at Villarreal, where he emerged in a cloud of smoke from a glass tube.
Cazorla's story is nothing short of extraordinary - having had to reckon with the possibility that he'd need his foot amputated after a botched operation led the spread of gangrene, it was hard to imagine that the Spaniard would ever be back to his best.
But the playmaking wizard conjured a new sense of belief out of this adversity, and ended up being one of the standout players of La Liga last season, even earning a first Spain call-up in five years for his troubles.