I was Tony Blair’s favorite player in the Premier League, but now I’m a cop – I spend my days solving crimes and catching crooks

TONY BLAIR’s all-time favorite Premier League defender has gone from chasing forwards to catching crooks – now he solves crimes as a detective.

Ex-Wigan and Portsmouth star Arjan de Zeeuw, 43, has settled in his native Netherlands as a police officer specializing in forensics.

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The 52-year-old made over 500 appearances for five different English clubs in his career from 1995 to 2008.

And in 2005 he received an impressive tribute from the then British Prime Minister.

Newcastle fan Blair went to Football Focus to pick three Prem players – England striker Teddy Sheringham, Fulham stylist Steed Malbranque… and De Zeeuw.

Blair stayed on as prime minister for another two years, while the Dutchman continued to play until 2009 – he retired after a season with Dutch club ADO’20.

Before starting his playing career, however, he completed a medical degree, which he is known to use for his investigative work.

In 2014 he told BBC Sport: “I was looking at something other than football.

“I’ve been in football for so long and I thought I just need to look at the world a little bit more.

“So I was trying to get back to medical school and happened to bump into a friend of mine who was a detective in Alkmaar, where we are now.”

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Commenting on his decision to join the police, he added: “I liked the idea of ​​justice and trying to make the world a better place for everyone, a fairer place.

“I’m going to specialize a bit more in forensics. It will most likely be a larger investigation.”

Then he recalled his training, including learning how to fire a gun and interrogate people.

Arjan continued: “It’s a challenge. The good thing is that like football, it’s still a team effort.

“You will hardly ever solve a crime alone.”

Despite leaving the beautiful game as a career, he has still joined the squad’s team, which he generously described as “energetic”.

He joked: “You have to watch your legs.”

He also plays for the national police team, which qualified for the European finals this year.

Discussing how his footie skills have kept up, he chuckled, “I’m missing a little bit of speed and a little bit of touch, but the competitive edge is still there.”

It’s possible, however, that he was just being humble as he recalled how useful his training was when stalking a suspect, outlasting him in stamina and making the arrest.

He laughed: “I had enough pace to keep up.”