But the Marseille-born veteran defender is having none of it.

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He is just glad to be enjoying a new lease of life in the professional ranks at the age of 37.

Farsley Celtic may be a part-time club, but they are very much in a full-time league which is why Santos needed little persuading to swap Alfreton Town for west Leeds last month.

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"I'm loving it here," said Santos.

"I always wanted to play at a high level. I went to Alfreton to help my friend Nicky Law out, but I am glad to be back playing at a high level and I am enjoying my football – that's the main thing.

"I am really enjoying it here, we are picking up some results at the moment and things are going really good.

"It is cold here. But when I was younger I went to Paris to play football so the weather for me is not a problem at all. I just enjoy playing football week in, week out.

"People say there is no sun anymore, but at the end of the day I just enjoy football which is both my work and my hobby. At the end of the day I am just doing my hobby and I am lucky enough to be getting paid for it.

"There is plenty of time to go to Marseille to see friends and family and go on the beach in the summer. At the moment, all I want to do is help Farsley stay up."

It's that attitude which has helped Santos carve out a career in England – and made him an instant hit at the Celts.

He wasn't the first Frenchman to arrive in the country in the modern era on his arrival from Toulon in 1998. Eric Cantona's arrival at Elland Road in 1992 sparked an influx of signings.

He doesn't have a bulging trophy cabinet, either, and wouldn't be categorised as one of the foreign legion which some argue are stifling the emergence of English talent.

But he has out-lasted most of his countrymen in a decade which has taken in stints at West Brom, Sheffield United, Grimsby, Ipswich, QPR, Brighton and Oxford as well as Tranmere, and he is proud of his record.

"My biggest achievement is just to get professional, that wasn't easy," he says.

"People think after two or three years and your first contract you have done it, but you have to keep on working hard to keep doing it.

"I have done it for 20 years and that is a big achievement for me."

Santos has never had to work harder than in March 2002, when his career in England hit rock-bottom during the infamous 'Battle of Bramall Lane'.

He was one of three Blades players sent off against his former club West Brom when he saw red for a two-footed tackle on Andy Johnson, just seconds after arriving on the pitch as a substitute.

There was history between the players, with Santos having to undergo a five-and-a-half hour operation after being caught be a swinging elbow from Johnson a year earlier.

The latest incident was followed by a mass brawl, when Patrick Suffo joined Santos and keeper Simon Tracey – who was sent off for handling outside his area early on – in having an early bath, and United were eventually reduced to six players due to injury.

The match was abandoned, then Blades boss Neil Warnock commented: "I don't think Georges will ever play for us again." And that proved to be the case.

Santos said: "I really enjoyed my football in Sheffield and I thought I was quite unlucky how it finished, but that's football.

"I wasn't happy how they treated me – I was one of the scapegoats in it.

"I got sent off and then the fight started. The club and manager said I started it but I wasn't even on the pitch, I was already in the dressing room.

"But that's in the past now. I moved on to Ipswich and QPR and Brighton and every time I came back to Sheffield United it was nice to see everybody. I'm happy to be playing in Yorkshire again now."

Santos' latest move came about after Celtic played Blue Square North side Alfreton in the FA Trophy last month.

And he is determined his second spell in the white rose county has a happier ending – with Farsley celebrating Blue Square Premier survival come May.

"We will definitely stay up," he says adamantly. "The way we are playing at the moment, I am sure we will.

"I remember going to West Brom eight years ago, they were bottom of the first division when I went in March and we stayed up.

"In the last game we played Charlton, we had to win to stay up, we beat them 2-0 and Walsall went down instead.

"I think Farsley can do the same. I can see the quality in the team and if everyone works together the job will be done.

"We have tough games coming week in and week out and it won't be easy, but I am sure we will do it because all the qualities are there.

"We have good players, the team spirit is good, the team effort is good and we just need to keep that going until the end of the season."