(Rome) Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic announced the end of his playing career at the age of 41, telling AC Milan fans on Sunday evening that it was “time to say goodbye to football”.

“It’s time to say goodbye to football, not just to you. There are too many emotions now, go Milan and goodbye, “he said at the microphone, on the pitch of the San Siro stadium, after the victory of his partners against Hellas Verona (3-1) on the 38th and final day of the season.

AC Milan, the club to which he returned at the end of 2019 and which he largely contributed to bringing back to the top, notably with the title of Italian champion in 2022, announced on Saturday a ceremony to “thank Zlatan for the wonderful moments that we spent together”.

Due to repeated injuries, the 40-year-old has hardly been able to play this season. He returned to competition in February after having surgery on his left knee in May 2022.

The Swede has started just one game this season, in March when they won 3-1 at Udinese. He then became the oldest goalscorer in the history of Serie A. At the end of March, he still hoped to be able to play Euro-2024, next year in Germany.

But he then re-injured a calf during a pre-match warm-up in April, and has since finished the season on the sidelines, where he was again for the final game of his career on Sunday night .

“We can only thank him for everything he has done for us. And it’s sad that a champion like that no longer plays football,” coach Stefano Pioli commented on the Milan club channel.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic won his first Italian league title with Milan in 2011.

Also passed by Ajax Amsterdam, Juventus, Inter Milan, FC Barcelona, ​​Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United, he has many league titles to his name: two in the Netherlands, five in Italy ( three with Inter, two with Milan), one in Spain and four in France.

Between his time at Manchester United and his return to Milan, he wore the colors of the Los Angeles Galaxy from March 2018 to November 2019.