Zlatan Ibrahimovic Says He Played Without ACL in Left Knee for Six Months

Milan clinched its first Serie A title since 2011 on Sunday and he took to Instagram to share how difficult the last six months have been for him.

After AC Milan won its first Serie A title since 2011 on Sunday, Zlatan Ibrahimović took to Instagram to tell the world that he has been playing with just one ACL for the last six months. 

“For the past six months I played without an ACL in my left knee,” he said in an Instagram post. "I made something impossible to something possible.”

In the Instagram post that featured a photo of the club celebrating the title, Ibrahimović divulged that his left knee was swollen for six months and he was only able to train with the team 10 times in that same timeframe. 

He also shared that he’s taken more than 20 injections, emptied his knee once a week, took painkillers every day and has struggled to sleep all in the last six months. He added that he “never suffered so much on and off the pitch.” 

Ibrahimović had knee surgery on Wednesday and faces up to eight months on the sidelines if he decides to continue his playing career. The 40-year-old made 23 appearances in Serie A this past year mostly off the bench. Milan said the surgery was scheduled for some time “to definitively resolve the joint’s instability.”

Ibrahimović will be 41 by the time he can play again and his contract ends this year as well. But for now, the Swede is celebrating his team’s latest accomplishment. 

“In my mind I had only one objective, to make my teammates and coach champions of Italy because I made them a promise,” he said on Instagram. “Today I have a new ACL and another trophy.”

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