Former Newcastle United and Crystal Palace midfielder Yohan Cabaye has called time on his playing career at the age of 35.
Cabaye spent more than five seasons in the Premier League across separate spells in the north-east and London and won 48 caps for Les Bleus, with Lille and Paris St Germain also among his former clubs.
He made the announcement in a Twitter post headed: “Final whistle…”
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The attached statement read: “It is with great emotion that after more than 17 years of passion, love for football, great emotion and memories that will always remain engraved in my mind, I announce the end of my professional football career.
“Even if this decision may seem obvious and unavoidable having passed 35 in the world of football, it is still difficult to take and to accept because my love for football is immense.”
Cabaye went on to thank his former team-mates, coaches, supporters of his clubs and the France national team and his family, among others.
Newcastle tweeted: “Congratulations on a fantastic career @YCabayeofficiel and all the very best for the future!” They also posted videos of two goals he scored for them against Manchester United.
Palace hailed “one of the best to put on the shirt” and posted a clip of his goal in 2017’s 3-0 win over Arsenal.
After making his name with Lille, Cabaye joined Newcastle in 2011 and quickly became a favourite on Tyneside, scoring 10 Premier League goals across his first two seasons and then seven in 17 games in 2013-14 before PSG came calling in January with a bid of around £19million.
He struggled to truly establish himself with the perennial Ligue 1 champions and returned to England with Palace in 2015, scoring nine goals in 96 league games despite rarely playing the full 90 minutes.
A short spell with Al Nasr followed before he finished his career back in his homeland with St Etienne.
At an international level, he was a fringe member of the team that reached the Euro 2016 final – playing in the Group A dead rubber against Switzerland and as a late substitute in the semi-final win over Germany. He also appeared at Euro 2012 and the 2014 World Cup.
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