Zlatan Ibrahimovic, a Swedish striker for AC Milan, announced his decision to end his playing career at the age of 41 following a trophy-laden career at some of Europe’s greatest clubs.
Ibrahimovic will complete a fantastic career when his Milan contract expires at the end of June and is not renewed due to a season marred by injury.
The Swede, who previously helped Milan win the Scudetto with them in 2011 and again last season, returned to Milan in early 2020 for a second stint.
“I say goodbye to football but not to you,” he said after being feted by the San Siro crowd after Milan’s 3-1 win over Hellas Verona in their season finale on Sunday.
“The first time I arrived you gave me happiness, the second time you gave me love. I want to thank my family and those close to me for their patience.”
The charismatic attacker began his professional career in 1999 with Malmo FF and departed for Ajax Amsterdam in 2001. Since then, he has spent time at Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Paris St. Germain, Manchester United, and Milan.
The Swede has won a huge number of domestic leagues, cups, and individual awards, but he has yet to take home the Champions League trophy, which represents Europe’s top club competition.
Ibrahimovic, the all-time leading scorer for Sweden with 62 goals in 121 games, left the team following the 2016 Euros but returned in 2021 for their fruitless World Cup qualification campaign.
“I thank the journalists for your patience, now you’ll have less work to do without me… From tomorrow, I am a free man from this world of football,” Ibrahimovic told reporters in a press conference after the announcement he was retiring.
“It was a long career, really long, thank you to everyone who gave me the strength, the adrenaline and the emotion to continue.”
.“For the moment, I just want to take some time and enjoy what I’ve done. It’s not right to make decisions in a hurry, there’s too much emotion right now. I want to take the summer off, reflect and then we’ll see.”
When asked about who could replace him, Ibrahimovic’s answer was clear.
“Impossible, there is only one Zlatan! As a child, they compared me to [former Netherlands striker] Marco van Basten, but he is who he is and I am who I am,” he said.
“There might be similarities, but I don’t think comparisons are right. I doubt we’d find another Zlatan with my ego,” he added.
He acknowledged that the evening had been emotionally difficult as he wrapped up the news conference.
“I could not have dreamed of a night like this. From the first day, I felt at home with Milan, the old and the new version. When I leave here, I will miss it a great deal. Today, they dragged the real Ibrahimovic out.”
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