Zlatan Ibrahimovic retirement fears after injury rules striker out until 2023

REUTERS

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been ruled out of action for the rest of the year, raising fears he may have played his final game.

Ibrahimovic, who turns 41 years old in October, went under the knife to repair damage in his left knee caused by a previous anterior cruciate ligament injury and will not be able to play football until 2023.

The striker on Sunday won Serie A with AC Milan, the 14th league title of his career, but his current contract at San Siro expires at the end of June.

Ibrahimovic will now decide to either hang up his boots permanently or look for a new contract for next season.

A Milan statement on their official website read: "AC Milan announces that Zlatan Ibrahimovic underwent an operation on his left knee carried out by Dr Bertrand Sonnery-Cottet, with the club's medical director Stefano Mazzoni in attendance, at the Hospital Jean Mermoz in Lyon.

"The arthroscopy had been planned for a while to definitively resolve the joint's instability through the reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament, with lateral reinforcement and meniscus reparation.

"The operation was a complete success and the prognosis is estimated between seven and eight months."

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