Football veteran Zlatan Ibrahimovic has decided to hang up his boots as he announced the same on Sunday. He decided to end his playing career at the age of 41 after a trophy-laden career at some of Europe’s top clubs.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic retires
Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s contract is set to expire at the end of June and will not be renewed following a season marred by injuries. Ibrahimovic arrived in Milan for his second spell with the club in early 2020, having won the Scudetto with them in 2011, and helped the club win the title again last season.
“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.
“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.”
“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,” Zlatan 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.”
Zlatan Ibrahimović:
"The time has arrived to say goodbye".
We will miss you, forever and 𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐈𝐙❤️🖤
Good luck in retirement 👏 pic.twitter.com/vF0w3kCKU9
— Lega Serie A (@SerieA_EN) June 4, 2023
Zlatan Ibrahimovic had started his career at Malmo FF in 1999 and left for Ajax Amsterdam in 2001. He then had stints with Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona, Paris St Germain, Manchester United and AC Milan.
Ibrahimovic has a plethora of titles and cups plus a long list of individual accolades but never got his hands on Europe’s elite club competition trophy the Champions League. Sweden’s all-time top scorer with 62 goals in 121 matches, he quit the national team after Euro 2016 but returned in 2021 for their unsuccessful World Cup qualifying campaign.
