Aiyegbeni makes football’s oldest-looking players list

It was a shock that reverberated throughout transfer deadline day, news that had fans up and down the country open-mouthed with disbelief.
Could it really be true? Was Yakubu Aiyegbeni, Reading’s new signing, really just 32 years old?
The burly Nigeria striker seems to have been around for ages, and Twitter in particular had a hard time believing that he was two years Steven Gerrard’s junior.
David Hickman was just one of many Twitter users agape at Yakubu’s tender years
But Yakubu is not the only footballer whose official age has raised eyebrows.
Here, BBC Sport looks at six other footballers who look older than they really are.
Joseph Minala
Lazio midfielder Joseph Minala found himself at the centre of controversy last year after he was forced to deny rumours that he was 41.
Despite his rather venerable appearance, the Cameroonian is apparently just 18 years old.
Diego Costa
Chelsea’s goal-poacher Diego Costa has the look of a grizzled gunslinger in a spaghetti western, as our own Garth Crooks has pointed out.
So who would have picked him for a callow youngster of just 25 years old – the same age as baby-faced Arsenal winger Theo Walcott?
Not one particular Twitter user, it seems.
Hendry Thomas
Perhaps the stress of flirting with relegation during his spell at Wigan Athletic took its toll on the features of midfielder Hendry Thomas.
The Honduras international looks a lot older than his 29 years.
Somehow it’s hard to imagine him taking orders from fresh-faced former Latics boss Roberto Martinez.
Pablo Zabaleta
Thirty-year-old Manchester City defender Pablo Zabaleta is one of the longest-serving players at the Etihad.
However, only seven years have elapsed since the Argentine joined aged 23 in 2008 – you could be forgiven for thinking it was seventeen.
Jeremy Toulalan
Despite cutting a rather superannuated figure in the centre of the park, greying Monaco midfielder Jeremy Toulalan is still only 31.
It’s safe to assume that Toulalan won’t be reprising Luis Figo’s role as an ambassador of hair-rejuvenation products.
Emerson
When it comes to footballers who look old beyond their years, Brazilian midfield enforcer Emerson is a classic of the genre.

These days, the happily retired Emerson is 38 – which coincidentally is roughly the age that he appeared when this photo was taken during his days at Juventus, nine long years ago.