Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic set to miss rest of 2022 as AC Milan confirm ACL surgery after Serie A triumph

AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is likely to be out for the rest of the year after undergoing surgery on his left knee, his club confirmed.

The 40-year-old striker celebrated a Serie A win with Milan at the weekend, in a season in which he made 27 appearances and scored eight goals.

Ibrahimovic returned to his former club in the 2019/2020 season after a spell with Paris Saint-Germain and then Manchester United, and he and the club had been considering another year’s contract as his current deal is due to expire in June.

Journalist Fabrizio Romano tweeted that the Swedish forward is now considering his career as the surgery has left him facing between “7 and 8 months” out of action.

Milan issued a statement on their website, saying:

“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 Hôpital 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 7 and 8 months.”

Ibrahimovic’s career spans 23 years after making his professional debut for Malmo in 1999.