41-year-old Swedish footballer, Zlatan Ibrahimovic will leave AC Milan after their final match of the season against Verona on Sunday, June 4.
Ibrahimovic was a key figure in Milan’s resurgence to the top of Italian football after his return to the club as a free agent in late 2019, helping to bring them back from the doldrums and eventually win Serie A last season.
The Swede has however played only four matches in Serie A this season, getting a total of 144 minutes on the field. He became the oldest goalscorer in the league’s history when he scored his only goal of the season by converting a penalty in a 3-1 loss at Udinese in March. That was the only match he started this season for the Serie A side.
Ibrahimovic then picked up a calf injury in a pre-match warm-up in April and will leave AC Milan career sidelined due to the knock.
His contract with Milan expires at the end of June and will not be renewed following a season plagued by injuries.
Announcing his exit on Saturday, June 3, the club said;
“Tomorrow (Sunday) evening after the final game of the season… AC Milan will say goodbye to Zlatan Ibrahimovic with a brief ceremony. AC Milan would like to thank Zlatan for the magnificent time that we have spent together.”
Manager Stefano Pioli said Ibrahimovic would not be available for Sunday’s match against Hellas Verona at the San Siro but the club said the Swede would be honoured after the game.
Milan sits fourth in Serie A ahead of Sunday night’s match at the San Siro and are assured of Champions League football next season. They lost to Inter Milan in the Champions League semifinal last month.
Italian media report that Ibrahimovic could join Monza next season, which would reunite him with former Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi and his right-hand man Adriano Galliani.
Former Italian prime minister Berlusconi who sold Milan for 740 million euros in 2017 after three decades of glory, bought Monza for a relative pittance the following year.