Luka Modrić, Edin Džeko, Ciro Immobile, and Kevin De Bruyne have joined the already large legion of footballers spending their pre-retirement years in Serie A—to the delight of their families. Instead of players like Acerbi, Mkhitaryan, or Pedro—born before the 1990s—leaving, almost all top Serie A clubs will feature players in the twilight of their footballing careers. It wouldn’t be surprising if Cuadrado, now 37, finds another Italian club after spells at Inter and Atalanta in the past two seasons. There was a time when players deep into their 30s were exclusively club “legends” who had earned the right to retire where they started, while other “veterans” typically moved to smaller clubs where their lack of pace, aerial ability, or agility could be tolerated, as long as they could still decide matches with a few moments of brilliance.Luka Modric has more non-domestic trophies than any other player in Serie A with 17, including 6 Champions Leagues.#ACMilan have the squad with the most combined international titles, with 23 spread across 4 players.[via @Transfermarkt] pic.twitter.com/KN8ZqDBRor— MilanData📊 (@acmilandata) July 20, 2025 Serie A’s problem is that coaches prefer, to put it euphemistically, experienced players. It’s rare in Serie A to hear of a coach or sporting director who is deeply committed to signing a player between 18 and 23 years old. But there is an endless list of experts who are fixated on acquiring players over 30 at all costs. Another anomaly in Italian club football is that older players aren’t treated as added value used in moderation, but as starters—sometimes even pillars of the team. Napoli and Inter, the champion and runner-up in the last Serie A season, had the oldest squads on average. Inter also held the title of the oldest team in the Champions League.Eternal capocannoniere set to return homeLuka Modrić will turn 40 in September. Although he wanted to continue playing in Madrid—hoping to retire after next World Cup—Real Madrid showed him the exit. Xabi Alonso is not Italian like Carlo Ancelotti, and perhaps not as sentimental about on-field legends—at least not yet. In Milan, Modrić is not being presented as a backup, but as a starter for the upcoming season, with the reasoning that the Rossoneri will play just one match per week, giving Luka enough time to recover. Modrić isn’t an exception in Milan; he’s just an extreme example of a common trend. Ibrahimović returned to Milan at 40, Maldini and Costacurta played into their 40s, and Olivier Giroud came at 35 and stayed until he was 38. Now, just like Giroud a few years earlier, Kevin De Bruyne arrives from the Premier League in his advanced footballing years. Manchester City, despite his being a key part of Guardiola’s squad for the last decade, let his contract expire without much fuss. At 34, Kevin wants to prove he’s not ready for the scrap heap.Marseille are into Africa: Yesterday Auba, today young WeahWhat can be said about Inter’s squad last season? Sommer, Acerbi, and Mkhitaryan were the backbone, along with several other players over 30—Darmian, de Vrij, Calhanoglu, and Taremi. There were matches where 8 or 9 Inter players on the pitch were over 30. No wonder Inzaghi’s team arrived “exhausted” at the crucial part of the season and ended up empty-handed on all fronts. Rumors are circulating in Milan that Xhaka could replace Calhanoglu if the Turk moves to Fenerbahçe. The Swiss international is two years older, and one wonders whether someone at Appiano Gentile will ask why Bayer Leverkusen is so eager to offload Xhaka. Fiorentina and Bologna surprised many by signing Edin Džeko and Ciro Immobile, two fading stars of Roma and Lazio, who spent last season in Istanbul playing for Fenerbahce and Besiktas, respectively.EPL gem gets back on track with Roma’s wolfpackWhile the two players—and their families—wanting to return to Italy is understandable, it’s less clear what Fiorentina and Bologna are thinking. Both teams have ambitions to take a step forward and qualify for the Champions League. Pedro at Lazio, to be fair, makes some sense. The Catalan scored 10 goals in Serie A last season—only one as a starter, with the other nine coming off the bench in the second half. The most worrying statistic is that Serie A players are, on average, a year and a half older than players in the other four major European leagues. In the Premier League, the use of players under 23 is growing exponentially. Last season, the number of U23 players with more than 900 minutes in the Premier League increased by 32%, while Serie A saw a decline in usage of players under 23. It’s no coincidence that PSG and Chelsea—both with average squad ages under 24—won the Champions League and the first-ever Club World Cup. In this context, it’s no surprise that the 2007 Milan and 2010 Inter teams remain the oldest ever to win the Champions League—and that Serie A teams haven’t conquered European football’s highest peak in 15 years, despite four finals by Juventus and Inter in the last decade.##NAJAVA_MECA_9023430##
