sportbible homepage
sportbible homepage
  • Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • World Cup
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Manchester United
    • Liverpool
    • Arsenal
    • Real Madrid
    • Barcelona
  • Formula 1
    • Red Bull
    • Ferrari
    • McLaren
    • Mercedes
    • Max Verstappen
    • Lewis Hamilton
    • Lando Norris
    • George Russell
    • Charles Leclerc
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • More Sport
    • Tennis
    • Golf
    • NBA
    • NFL
    • Darts
    • Athletics
    • Rugby
    • Wrestling
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Snapchat
TikTok
Threads
YouTube
Submit Your Content Here
  • LADbible
  • Tyla
  • GAMINGbible
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • FOODbible
  • UNILAD Tech
Somehow, A 40-Year-Old Zlatan Ibrahimovic With One Working Knee Is Still In Remarkable Shape

Home> Football

Updated 16:20 24 Jul 2022 GMT+1Published 16:05 24 Jul 2022 GMT+1

Somehow, A 40-Year-Old Zlatan Ibrahimovic With One Working Knee Is Still In Remarkable Shape

Zlatan defies logic.

Daniel Marland

Daniel Marland

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has once again proven he is the ultimate athlete after sharing a picture of his physique online.

The 40-year-old is currently recovering from knee surgery and signed a one-year extension with AC Milan after winning Serie A last season.

He is not expected to return to action until 2023 after a planned procedure on his left knee to fix issues caused by previous anterior cruciate ligament injury.

Advert

Does that mean he is resting on his laurels? Come on, this is Zlatan we're talking about.

The former Sweden international shared a topless image and captioned it: "Different Breed." Hard to argue.

Ibrahimovic scored eight goals in 27 games to help Milan to their first domestic title in 11 years.

He detailed the pain he played through and revealed he had no ACL in his left knee. Ibrahimovic suffered the injury while playing for Manchester United in April 2017, landing awkwardly in their Europa League quarter-final against Anderlecht.

That kind of injury would permanently finish the career of any other sportsperson in their mid 30s. However, Ibrahimovic returned to action in November 2017 and he moved on to MLS outfit LA Galaxy four months later.

Image
Alamy

Still thinking he had a point to prove in Europe, the striker joined AC Milan for a second spell in 2020, having previously represented the Rossoneri between 2010 and 2012.

"For the past six months I played without an ACL in my left knee," he posted to social media shortly after Milan's title triumph.

"Swollen knee for six months. I was only able to train with the team 10 times in the last six months. Took more than 20 injections in six months.

"Emptied the knee once a week for six months. Painkillers every day for six months. Barely slept for six months because of the pain.

"I've never suffered so much on and off the pitch. I made something impossible to something possible. In my mind I had only one objective, to make my teammates and coach champions of Italy because I made them a promise.

"Today I have a new ACL and another trophy."

Image
Alamy

Rafael Leao and Olivier Giroud stepped up for Stefano Pioli's side and scored 23 goals between them, with Leao grabbing 12 and Giroud netting 11 in the last campaign.

Milan begin the defence of their title on August 13 when they welcome Udinese to the San Siro.

Featured Image Credit: Zlatan Ibrahimovic/Twitter & Alamy

Topics: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, AC Milan

Daniel Marland
Daniel Marland

Daniel is SPORTbible's Senior Social Editor.

X

@DanMarland_

Recommended reads

“I don’t fight for a country” – Michael 'Venom' Page reveals why he won’t walk out with a flag at UFC LondonGeoff Stellfox/Getty ImagesLerone Murphy details ‘bucket list’ fight ahead of UFC LondonChris Unger/Zuffa LLC“All we want is people who really want to die for the shirt” – Danny Dyer talks West Ham, football agents and the toughest firms in the gameOne Last DealWhy Donald Trump lacks power on Iran's participation at World Cup as 'likely decision date' revealedGetty

Advert

Choose your content:

14 mins ago
2 hours ago
3 hours ago
17 hours ago
  • Getty Images
    14 mins ago

    Thomas Tuchel names penultimate England squad before World Cup

    England will take on Uruguay and Japan in March.

    Football

    breaking

  • Getty Images - The Overlap
    2 hours ago

    Wayne Rooney sparks major debate with controversial take on Neymar during Overlap discussion

    Rooney's take has become a big talking point.

    Football
  • Getty
    3 hours ago

    What happened to The Guardian's first Next Generation picks from 2014

    The British outlet backed several youngsters to go on to do great things, but where are they now?

    Football
  • Getty
    17 hours ago

    England star switches allegiance to Ireland for World Cup qualifiers

    Heimir Hallgrímsson has made his picks ahead of the upcoming World Cup play-off semi-finals.

    Football
  • Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Son in Talks to Join Club His Dad Previously Played For
  • Zlatan Ibrahimovic tipped to join Wrexham in shock 'Hollywood' link up with Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney
  • Zlatan Ibrahimovic's response when asked about never winning the Ballon d'Or was priceless
  • Zlatan Ibrahimovic was in no doubt when naming ex-England star he likes more than any other player