10 players who played in their 40s as Thiago Silva sets Chelsea target

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Thiago Silva has insisted that he can play well into his 40s and in the form he is, it is hard to argue against him. The Chelsea star wants to emulate his hero Paolo Maldini and, at 37, is showing no signs of slowing down.

"I hope I can do the same thing that Maldini did at Milan, playing until he was 40 or 41 years old," Silva said. "That's my plan for the immediate future and I have prepared myself for that."

Reaching that decade for many means starting up bird-watching or mastering the BBQ at a family get-together. But for some it is just another year with the best athletes in the world able to continue their sport.

In football, that can be difficult when the young whippersnappers are biting down your heels and outpacing you at every turn. For those that do not quite feel like hanging up their boots, though, it is just like a walk in the park.

Over the years, there have been numerous players who have defied their body clocks to stay out on the pitch - even doing better than their earlier careers. Here are 10 of the best to carry on into the fourth decade of their lives.

One of the last true Romans, Totti never played anywhere else other than his beloved AS Roma - where he made his debut in 1992 and retired in 2017 at the age of 40. He scored 307 times for the Giallorossi in a city where only Julius Caesar is more famous.

Now Totti