THE CONCRETE ROUNDABOUT (TCR)

I find moves like this strange because he's all but ended his career by joining a club like this. He'll be their main player but the move has to be purely for 'living in Cyprus' he'll play pressure-free football whilst the professionalism in terms of diet will drop off naturally as it isn't such a high-pressured league environment.

I don't begrudge anyone playing football if they are offered the chance but that is practically early retirement!

I get your point, and I agree that that probably applies to some / many of the instances. And could certainly apply in Puncheon's case.
Obviously, the wages and lifestyle choice is a big factor for many, but I'm not fond of the attitude that playing in foreign leagues, apart from the big 5 or 6, is solely akin to retirement.
If a player is 30+ and faces being a squad player at best in the PL or championship, or only has offers lower down the leagues in England, and also has offers from top flight sides but in smaller footballing nations, then I can see why some players, for footballing reasons as well as lifestyle choice, might choose to be a key player in the top flight of a smaller country, where there's the chance of adding some silverware to their collection. Especially those who maybe have no medals to show for their career up to then, and are at an age were they're not going to work their way back up to being a regular again in the strongest Leagues.

I probably picked the wrong transfer to make that general point, as I agree that Puncheon going from the PL to a new and small Cypriot club is one of the stranger ones.
It was more the two phrases: 'all but ended his career' and 'practically early retirement', that I was responding to. It gets said a lot when people choose to move abroad to new league's like China or US, or to the smaller European leagues. And yet doesn't get said if they drop down to the lower leagues or non-league in England. As if a 30+ player choosing the top-flight in a smaller footballing nation, who may also be in the major European competitions, is "retiring", but dropping down to League Two or the NL when they're that age isn’t. They're top flight, competive leagues. It's not like they're joining the Harlem Globetrotters or something.

Has just announced his retirement. Probably one of my favourite players to watch in a Dons shirt. Pure entertainment.