While Andrea Pirlo has no imminent plans to retire, the Italy playmaker is entering the twilight years of his career.

So the publication of his new autobiography I Think Therefore I Play is well-timed, full of brilliant quotes and just happens to be knocking about at the Off The Ball desk.

The World Cup and Champions League-winning legend has had plenty to say on a range of topics including potential moves away to Barcelona and Real Madrid, as well as suspicions about one opposition team and Playstation battles with fellow legend Alessandro Nesta at Milan.

 

Almost joining La Liga's Big Two 

Following the 2006 World Cup, then-Real Madrid manager and compatriot Fabio Capello made him an offer he couldn't refuse. While Pirlo was keen on a move to Madrid, Milan refused.

Pirlo recalled how Adriano Galliani stopped him from leaving.

'"Andrea, my friend, you're not going anywhere."

'He pulled out a little case from under the table. That made me smile, thinking it had been just as well hidden as Monica Lewinsky under Bill Clinton's desk in the Oval Office.

A contract then appeared from the case, with Mr Biro (Galliani) adding, "You're not leaving, because you're going to sign this. It's for five years, and we've left the salary details blank so you can write in whatever you like."'

Four years later, Pep Guardiola engineered a one-on-one meeting with the current Juventus cornerstone and told him how he would dovetail with Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets.

Of Guardiola, Pirlo said: "You could tell he wasn’t a man to beat about the bush. After a couple of minutes, he’d cut straight to the chase. As a player, his job had been to conduct the play and as a manager he’d learned to attack, always with impeccable style."

 

Park Ji Sung and his "guard dog" act

Alex Ferguson often trusted South Korean midfielder Park Ji Sung on the big European nights and more often than not he delivered for Manchester United.

Andrea Pirlo was on the end of one of those energetic displays and did not enjoy the experience:

'At Milan, [Ferguson] unleashed Park Ji-Sung to shadow me.

“He rushed about at the speed of an electron. He’d fling himself at me, his hands all over my back, trying to intimidate me.

“He’d look at the ball and not know what it was for. They had programmed him to stop me. His devotion to the task was almost touching. Even though he was a famous player, he consented to being used as a guard dog.”

 

Smelly Inzaghi

Once upon a time, Fergie famously remarked that Pirlo's club and international team-mate Filippo Inzaghi was born offside given his goals-but-contribute-little-else style of play.

Turns out Pirlo and his team-mates did not appreciate everything Inzaghi had to offer...

"Simply put he crapped. Crapped a hell of a lot. That isn't a bad thing in itself, but the fact that he'd do it at the ground, in our dressing room, just before the game got on our nerves somewhat . Especially if the dressing room was small - a stink like that in such a confined space can get a little overpowering. Often he'd go three or four times in the space of 10 minutes."

o Filippo Inzaghi, Andrea Pirlo and Manuel Rui Costa of AC Milan at their unveiling in 2001 ©INPHO/Allsport

Doping allegations against one opposition team

Back in the 2004 Champions League quarter-finals, Pirlo was part of an AC Milan side which saw a 4 - 1 first leg lead sensationally wiped out by a Deportivo de la Coruña team which won 4 - 0 in the return match.

Pirlo recalls how the opposition seemed to be brimming with energy and raced towards the dressing rooms at half-time, musing whether there was something else afoot that night.

"I don’t have any proof, so what follows isn’t an accusation – I’d never allow myself to go that far. It’s simply a nasty thought I’ve occasionally let percolate in the intervening years.

"For the first and only time in my life, I’ve wondered if people I’d shared a pitch with might have been on something".

 

The sacred Playstation

In the book Pirlo has been quoted as saying that the Playstation is the greatest human invention after the wheel. Aside from his love of wine, that is his greatest love and he admits that he spent the 2006 World Cup relaxing with his favourite toy.

"I can’t say with any certainty how many virtual matches I’ve played over the last few years but, roughly speaking, it must be at least four times the number of real ones.

"Pirlo vs Nesta was a classic duel back in our Milanello days. We’d get in early, have breakfast at 9am and then shut ourselves in our room and hit the PlayStation until 11. Training would follow, then we’d be back on the computer games until four in the afternoon. Truly a life of sacrifice."

 

His tears after his Milan exit was confirmed

Given the fact that Pirlo's form is as evergreen as it ever was, Milan made a huge mistake when they allowed him to go to Juventus for free in 2011.

The Lombardy-born icon remembers his emotions as his decade-long affair with Milan came to an end as the Rossoneri deemed him a spent force.

"Sometimes it was a dejection mixed with sadness, other times raw emotion. At any rate, it taught me a valuable lesson: it's good to cry. Tears are a visible demonstration of who you are; an undeniable truth. I didn't hold back. I cried and wasn't ashamed to do so."

 

Pirlo also has fascinating stories about Gennaro Gattuso's fork attacks and Milan's collapse against Liverpool in Istanbul.