You can’t fight nature. Even if you are Zlatan Ibrahimović.The Swedish ace made superhuman efforts to play this season, he returned in the fifth decade after a serious injury that would have meant the end of his career for most athletes, but it seems that he can’t go on…Ibrahimovic suffered a new injury yesterday and some Italian media are writing that the season is over for him. And that could mean the end of a great career. Ibrahimovic turned 41 this fall. It would be seriously masochistic to try again. Although, you never know with Zlatan…The legendary Ibra has much to do with Milan returning to the top of Italian and European football after years of floundering. With his return in January 2020, the recovery of the giant from San Siro began. He completely changed the character of the team, the mentality of the dressing room, he was a leader on and off the field, around him grew a generation of younger footballers who started to believe that they should fight for the highest goals…##NAJAVA_MECA_7198480##The culmination was last season’s Serie A title. He showed how much it all meant to Zlatan at the end of the season when he played with an injured knee and scored some key goals while being under injection treatment. He could not go out on the field in the last few matches of the previous season, but he refused to undergo surgery until the job was done. His presence meant a lot to Pioli’s team, and only when the scudetto was won did he go for knee ligament surgery.It is one of the most serious injuries in the world of sports, after which many do not return, but the stubborn Bosnian-Scandinavian once again wanted to defy biology and overcome his own limits. He went ‘under the knife’ and began the arduous process of several months of recovery. He returned to the field at the end of February in the match against Atalanta, soon scored a goal against Udinese and then perhaps he took too much risk when he accepted the call to the national team and was injured again which required another twenty-day break.Yesterday, in the match against Lecce, he felt fit enough to compete for the team. He started from the bench, went to warm up at the beginning of the second half and in the 65th minute returned to the bench with a painful grimace. Soon he limped into the dressing room accompanied by someone from Milan’s medical team.”He felt pain in his calf and stopped… I wanted to bring him into the game but he told me he couldn’t,” said Stefano Pioli after the match.Italian media report that the injury is more serious than the previous one. The season has ended for him, and if it is a break of more than a month, there is little chance that we will see Zlatan on the field. Ever again possibly…🚨 Ibrahimovic sustained an injury in his calf while warming up beside the pitch as one of the possible substitution. He will undergo medical tests to understand the extent of his injury[@SkySport] pic.twitter.com/vk17LGklYI— Milan Eye (@MilanEye) April 23, 2023 His contract with the Rossoneri expires at the end of the season and it is unrealistic to expect him to extend it. And last summer, the club took a risk by signing a new contract, knowing the severity of the injury, but out of respect for everything he did and his importance, the club honored him.Milan expected Zlatan to be a super-sub during the championship season and to replace from time to time another veteran – Olivier Giroud, who is the first striker and whom they wanted to keep fresh for the Champions League. Now, with a place in the semi-finals of the Champions League, and a not-so-great situation in the domestic championship, Pioli is forced to use the Frenchman more than he planned, especially in the championship, where Milan are chasing fourth place and another Champions League campaign. Alternatives are Ante Rebić and Divock Origi, but they have shown almost nothing this season, nor can Pioli seriously rely on them. The Croat will probably be sold at the end of the season, and Origi will have a hard time settling for a high salary even on loan.Milan’s priority in the summer transfer window will be to bring in strikers; some names are already circulating. The first target is youngster Folarin Balogun, who exploded this season on loan from Arsenal to Reims. But his price is around 30,000,000 euros. Also mentioned are Lois Openda from Lans and Victor Boniface from Union Saint-Giloise, whose prices are more affordable.
