Ze Roberto on playing until 43: 'I could still play for Man City now!'

You may have seen the pictures of Ze Roberto's physique that recently circulated online. The former midfielder turns 48 in July but you wouldn’t know it. His Instagram page shows him honing a ripped torso and espousing the benefits of a healthy lifestyle.

"I am no longer a footballer but I continue to look after my health and my body," he tells Sky Sports over Zoom from Sao Paulo in Brazil. "To live a clean, healthy life is a great legacy I can leave for the next generation of people and players. That is very important for me."

Ze Roberto has certainly reaped the benefits of that lifestyle. His remarkable playing career ran until he was 43 years old and his excellence endured until the end, when, aged 42 in 2016, he won the Brazilian championship for the first time with Palmeiras.

Before that, there were two Copa America wins with Brazil (for whom he won 84 caps and played at two World Cups), a Champions League triumph with Real Madrid, and four Bundesliga and German Cup doubles across two glittering spells with Bayern Munich.

He amassed more than a thousand career appearances in total and even now, when our wide-ranging conversation turns to Manchester City, he is adamant he could still cut it in their midfield.

"I have never stopped training," he says with a smile. "If I was to wear the City shirt today, in the physical condition I'm in, and with the way they play, I believe I could play in central midfield for them easily because it's a team which never loses the ball."

Fanciful? Perhaps. But it is not difficult to imagine how much Pep Guardiola would have loved to have him in his pomp.

Ze Roberto was special, an outstanding all-round midfielder further distinguished by a level of tactical intelligence and