The player aged 34 or over with the most goal contributions in each season since 99/00

In the past, a footballer usually entered a period of terminal decline when they hit their 30s.

But that’s certainly not the case these days.

Karim Benzema, 34, and Robert Lewandowski, 33, are currently playing the best football of their distinguished careers, while Cristiano Ronaldo is still going strong at the age of 37.

And then you have Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who is still getting regular minutes at Serie A table-toppers AC Milan as a 40-year-old.

So, now that footballers are regularly defying their age, we’ve decided to take look at the best ‘golden oldies’ from yesteryear.

Using the Transfermarkt database, we’ve worked out the player aged 34 or older with the most goal contributions in each completed season starting from 1999/2000.

Just so you’re aware, goals and assists recorded across all competitions while playing for a team in one of Europe’s top 15 leagues at the time have been taken into account in the list below.

So, let’s take a look at our findings…

1999/2000 | John Bosman (AZ Alkmaar) – 24

Goals: 21 | Assists: 3

2000/2001 | Gheorghe Hagi (Galatasaray) – 31

Goals: 13 | Assists: 18

2001/2002 | Dario Hubner (Piacenza) – 25

Goals: 24 | Assists: 1

2002/2003 | Danny Boffin (Sint-Truiden) – 27

Goals: 13 | Assists: 14

2003/2004 | Stephane Chapuisat (BSC Young Boys) – 45

Goals: 25 | Assists: 20

2004/2005 | Ivica Vastic (Austria Vienna) – 27

Goals: 14 | Assists: 13

2005/2006 | Par Zetterberg (Anderlecht) – 22

Goals: 8 | Assists: 14

2006/2007 | Rivaldo (Olympiakos) – 29

Goals: 17 | Assists: 12

2007/2008 | Ivica Vastic (LASK) – 25

Goals: 13 | Assists: 12

2008/2009 | Ryan Giggs (Manchester United) – 21

Goals: 4 | Assists: 17

2009/2010 | Blaise Nkufo (FC Twente) – 23

Goals: 16 | Assists: 7

2010/2011 | Mauro Lustrinelli (AC