Zlatan Ibrahimovic vows to return ‘even stronger’ from the knee injury

The United striker is set to miss the rest of the year and will undergo a surgery in America on Wednesday after rupturing his cruciate ligament but denied of retirement and vows to come back even stronger.

The 35-year-old was injured in the final minute of normal time during last week’s Europa League quarter-final second-leg win over Anderlecht at Old Trafford.

Mancheste United’s boss Mourinho confirmed that the injury is “really bad” and expressed his sadness for the veteran to suffer the blow towards the end of his career.

Mourinho, admitted after Sunday’s 2-0 victory over Burnley that Ibrahimovic’s recovery will be “really, really hard” due to his advanced years but, Ibrahimovic denied his boss statement in a post on Instagram and vowed to come back stronger.

“First of all, thank you for all the support and love,” he wrote. “It’s no news I got injured so I will be out of football for a while. I will go through this like everything else and come back even stronger. So far I played with one leg so it shouldn’t be any problem.

“One thing is for sure, I decide when it’s time to stop and nothing else. Giving up is not an option. See you soon.”

Ibrahimovic’s one-year deal with United expires at the end of the season, although the club has been in talks over extending his stay. Mourinho admitted that he must wait to see the full extent of the damage before making any judgment on him.

“The injuries are really big,” he said. “No player deserves to be injured, but in these two cases are even more sad.

“Zlatan, in this phase of his career, it is really hard and Marcos was in the best moment of his career, playing very well for us and finally getting a position as a central defender in the national team. It’s really sad for them.

“I know [how long they will be out for] but it is for the medical department to be more specific and they prefer to wait a couple more days because the players want to see other specialists and to have an extra opinion and we have to respect that. But they are important injuries.”

 

First of all, thank you for all the support and love. Its no news I got injured so I will be out of fotball for a while. I will go through this like everythings else and come back even stronger. So far I played with one leg so it shouldn’t be any problem. One thing is for sure, I decide when its time to stop and nothing else. Giving up is not an option. See you soon

A post shared by IAmZlatan (@iamzlatanibrahimovic) on Apr 23, 2017 at 2:54pm PDT