AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic says he feels 'panic' at the thought of retiring from football
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Published 23/03/2022 at 13:30 GMT
AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic says he feels "panic" at the thought of retiring from football after 23 seasons in the game. Ibrahimovic, now 40, is still an evergreen presence up front for the Rossoneri despite his advancing years, scoring 33 goals since rejoining the club in 2020. But he is comforted at seeing the new generation - such as fellow Swede Anthony Elanga - breaking through.
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Zlatan Ibrahimovic says he wants to continue playing football for as long as he can after admitting to "panic" at the thought of retiring.
The 40-year-old's move to LA Galaxy in 2018 looked like it would signal a gradual slowing-down of the Swede's famed physical powers, but he has been reborn at AC Milan since rejoining in 2020 - notching 33 goals in 55 games.
And it's clear that he doesn't yet feel ready to bring down the curtain on his remarkable 23-year career.
“I do feel a slight sense of panic at the prospect of retirement," Ibrahimovic told reporters before Sweden's World Cup qualifier with Czech Republic on Thursday, for which he is suspended.
“I will certainly keep playing for as long as possible, as long as I can get results and am not suffering. I want to end my career without regrets, so I have to maximise my time.
“I know the adrenaline I feel at the moment will never be the same. We are programmed to wake up, go to training, return home and rest.
"This goes on for 20-25 years, but one day I will wake up and have nothing planned, and that will be a strange feeling.
“I think the greatest sadness will be yours, as you won’t get to watch me play anymore. You should enjoy it now, because you’ll never see the likes of me again.”
Ibrahimovic has been joined in the Sweden squad for the first time by Anthony Elanga, who has impressed this term for Manchester United.
And the legendary forward recalled coming across Elanga for the first time when they were both at United - a meeting that fully emphasised their 21-year age gap.
Ibrahimovic said: "The first time I met him, we were in the restaurant in the [United] training ground and he came up to me and he said 'you know my father' and I was like 'help me now because I don't know who I'm talking to'.
"[He said] 'you played with my father [Joseph] Elanga', and then everything clicked and I said 'OK', and it made me happy because I wasn't the only Swedish one in Manchester, we had another Swedish player.
"We're all happy and we're enjoying the adventure he [Elanga] is on, he just started and he's on the way up so it's good.
"You will have something to watch for another 20 years."
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Anthony Elanga of Manchester United
Image credit: Getty Images
Ibrahimovic also offered advice to his young compatriot as he forges his own path in the game.
"He's a great talent, we are proud and happy that he comes from Sweden. That he can represent Sweden now makes it even bigger," he told STV.
"He has all the future ahead of him, and if he continues just as he has done, it looks positive. It's just fighting, never being content, striving for more. How much he can develop depends on him."
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