Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s injury will not end career, says Raiola

The agent of Zlatan Ibrahimovic has confirmed the striker’s serious knee injury will not end his career and he will return to football at the end of what will be a lengthy rehabilitation.

Ibrahimovic, 35, ruptured the cruciate ligaments in his right knee after landing awkwardly during Manchester United’s win over Anderlecht in the Europa League at the end of last month.

The veteran striker underwent successful surgery on his knee in America and his agent, Mino Raiola, insists the United striker has not suffered a career-ending injury.

“Zlatan Ibrahimovic has undergone successful knee surgery. He will make a full recovery and has not suffered a career-ending injury,” The Daily Mail quote Raiola as saying in a statement.

“The procedure was performed by Freddie Fu, M.D., and Volker Musahl, of the UPMC Sports Medicine programme in Pittsburgh.”

“Zlatan has started rehabilitation at UPMC and will remain under the care of Dr. Fu and Dr. Musahl throughout his recovery.

“Zlatan and the medical team are not available for interviews at this time. Additional updates will follow at a later date.”

Ibrahimovic’s current deal at United is due to expire at the end of the season and Jose Mourinho’s side are not expected to trigger an extension nor offer him a new deal they had been planning prior to his injury.

The former Sweden international has been a roaring success for United this season but his future is now expected to be away from Old Trafford whenever he is fit enough to return to football.

No United player has scored more Premier League goals in the last two seasons than Ibrahimovic (17), who only joined the club from Paris Saint-Germain at the start of this campaign.

For more stats on Zlatan Ibrahimovic, click here to visit his WhoScored player page