Chris Smalling is not your typical footballer. At 36, he has made 580 club appearances across three countries, won trophies with Manchester United and Roma, earned 31 England caps, and played most of his career under Sir Alex Ferguson or Jose Mourinho. Now back in the north west of England with his family, he is focused on one thing — finding a new club.

A body built for longevity

Smalling credits meticulous self-management for keeping him competitive into his mid-thirties. He points to the influence of Ferguson in his early career, recalling how the United manager encouraged players like Ryan Giggs to take up yoga.

"When you get beyond 30, each year is precious in terms of enjoying playing and being passionate about football," Smalling said. "Actual training is a very short time. The longevity and recovery starts very early — in terms of what I'm eating and doing between sessions, even down to my supplements now."

He went as far as genetics testing during pre-season, which prompted significant changes to his supplement regime. Last season he was an ever-present for Al-Fayha in the Saudi Pro League — a record he is particularly proud of.

From Maidstone to Manchester United

None of this seemed likely 18 years ago. Smalling was playing non-league football for Maidstone and preparing to study financial economics at university when Roy Hodgson watched a single practice game and offered him a Fulham contract on the spot.

"It wasn't even plan D," Smalling recalled. "I didn't have any time to get my head around it. I was just in total shock."

The move to Manchester United came even more abruptly. On the eve of a Premier League trip to Blackburn on 17 January 2010, Hodgson pulled a 20-year-old Smalling off the team coach to tell him Fulham had accepted a bid and that Ferguson was arriving at the hotel in 45 minutes.

"I called my mum first but then I was sitting in the room thinking it was going to be a bit awkward," he said. "Literally, we were there for at least a couple of hours. He was so calming and reassuring. He told me I would get a chance and he believed in me."

What made Ferguson and Mourinho great

Smalling is direct about the public criticism Mourinho aimed at him in November 2016 over a reluctance to play through injury, but he frames it in a very different light than many observers have.

"For United or Roma, Jose picked me for most games because we had a good relationship and he trusted me," he said. "In that situation, I was having injections in a broken toe because he had created that mentality in me that I could do anything, even if, maybe, I shouldn't. It gave me even more belief because it was easy to choose another centre-back — but he wanted me."

Smalling argues that the defining quality of both Ferguson and Mourinho was their ability to instil genuine conviction in senior players, not just young ones. He remains in contact with Mourinho and says he wished him well when the Portuguese took charge of Real Madrid this summer.

Life beyond the pitch

Smalling has no interest in moving into coaching. Instead, he is developing an education programme for young players in partnership with the Global Institute of Sport, alongside three or four similar projects he plans to expand once his playing days are done.

"At the minute it's all focused on playing because I have that passion and drive and physically my stats are good," he said.

Whoever signs him will find a player who has consistently shaped club environments beyond the training ground — at Al-Fayha, he personally pushed to upgrade the gym to elite standards. He turned down a university place to chase a slim chance at Fulham. More than two decades later, that decision has never looked better.