Zlatan Ibrahimovic has retired from football at the age of 41

Legendary Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic has decided to hang up his boots and has announced his retirement.

AC Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic has decided to retire from football at the age of 41. The Swedish striker is one of the greatest Scandinavian players of all time and he has enjoyed a trophy-laden career across some of Europe’s biggest clubs including Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, Milan, Paris Saint-Germain, and Manchester United.

Ibrahimovic’s Milan contract expires at the end of June and will not be renewed following a season plagued by injuries, prompting him to end a remarkable career.

He spent the last years of his career with the Rossoneri and had even helped them win the Scudetto in the 2021/22 season. This was his second spell in Milan after he arrived from MLS club LA Galaxy in early 2020. Ibrahimovic had also previously won the Scudetto with them in 2011 in his first spell at San Siro.

“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.”

Besides his towering stature and his insane goal-scoring prowess, Ibrahimovic also portrayed a larger-than-life status outside the field of play. He had begun his career with Malmo FF in Sweden in 1999 before leaving for Ajax in 2001. He then went on to represent several elite clubs in Europe over the next three decades.

The Swede has won countless domestic leagues and cups plus a long list of individual honours but never got his hands on Europe’s elite club competition trophy, the Champions League.

Ibrahimovic, who is Sweden’s all-time top scorer with 62 goals in 121 matches, quit the national team after Euro 2016 but returned in 2021 for their unsuccessful World Cup qualifying 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.”

When asked about his what his plans are following retirement, Ibrahimovic opted to deflect the question. “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.”

He concluded the press conference by admitting the evening had been an emotional experience.

“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.”