8 former Serie A cult heroes we can’t believe are still playing in 2024

Serie A has been graced by a host of brilliant footballers down the years – and some of them are still playing deep into the autumn of their careers.

The Italian league might not have the profile it had in the 1980s and 1990s, but plenty of superb players have played for giants of the European game such as AC Milan, Juventus and Inter.

We’ve picked out eight Serie A cult heroes that we can’t believe are still playing professionally in 2024.

Thiago Silva

After years in Europe with Milan, PSG and Chelsea, Silva has returned to Brazil at the age of 39 to play for Fluminese. Simply one of the greatest defenders of his generation.

Edinson Cavani

Having turned 37 back in February, you’ll be pleased to learn that El Matador is still doing the business.

Since joining Boca Juniors last year, the Uruguayan forward who shone at Napoli, PSG and Manchester United has been scoring goals for fun.

“What we like most about him is how he puts himself at the service of the team, how he always tries to be an example and help the team,” Boca Juniors manager Diego Martinez told reporters when discussing Cavani.

“I hope he can continue doing it. For us, it is very important to have a centre forward at the level he is at.”

Dries Mertens

Another Napoli legend, Mertens scored 148 goals in 397 appearances for the Gli Azzurri before leaving for Galatasaray in 2022.

We assumed the winger had called it a day following Belgium’s humiliating group-stage exit at the World Cup two years ago, but the 37-year-old is still soldiering on in Turkey and scored 12 goals last season.

Ciro Immobile

Immobile has enjoyed a well-travelled career around some of European football’s big clubs alongside a long, settled and wildly prolific stint at Lazio.

The 34-year-old striker has flattered to deceive for the national team while notching bags of goals in Serie A, boasting more goals in Europe’s major leagues in the 21st century than the likes of Fernando Torres and Ruud van Nistelrooy.

He also broke Messi and Ronaldo’s duopoly on the European Golden Shoe, claiming an award that greats like Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sergio Aguero and Karim Benzema never got their hands on.

We expect his move to Besiktas to be either a monumental triumph or a f*ck up of epic proportions – and his seven goals in six games to date strongly suggests the former.

Felipe Melo

Still going strong at 41 years of age, you’ve got to hand it to Melo. The former Juventus and Inter midfielder started his professional career in 2001 and he’s still going strong to this day with  Fluminense in his native Brazil.

“I am still playing because I love the game, because I am disciplined and because I work hard,” Melo told reporters last year.

“I think I mirror the team. I am the role model. In football, different people can be role models, young players and more seasoned players. Being 40 years old means I am able to dismantle a game. My motivation is to bring home the bacon.”

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Arturo Vidal

Part of Chile’s golden generation of the 2010s, Vidal represented Juventus, Bayern, Inter and Barcelona during his peak years in Europe.

He won the Scudetto with Antonio Conte’s Inter after leaving Barca in 2020 before returning to South America and signing for Brazilian giants Flamengo two years later – and winning the Copa Libertadores.

Earlier this year, aged 37, he returned to boyhood club Colo-Colo to rapturous scenes.

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Mauricio Isla

Former QPR full-back Isla is probably better remembered in Italian circles for his role in that cult Udinese team of the early 2010s and his spell at Juventus.

The Chile international left Italy in 2017 for Fenerbahce before returning to South America with Isla with Flamengo and Universidad Catolica.

The 36-year-old is now back in his homeland with Colo-Colo and played in this summer’s Copa America.

Giacomo Bonaventura

Bonaventura was a hell of a signing for AC Milan in 2014, who only spent €5.3million on the Italy international when they brought him in from Atalanta.

The Rossoneri got six years of solid service out of the central midfielder before he left for Fiorentina at the end of his contract.

He left Florence this summer and moved to Saudi Arabia to sign for Al-Shabab at the age of 35. Basically retirement, isn’t it?