Injured Zlatan Ibrahimovic pledges to be back: 'Giving up is not an option'

By Sports Illustrated and SI.com Staff/Sports Illustrated via Planet Futbol
Published

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is out for the rest of Manchester United's season and likely well beyond that, but he's not contemplating calling it quits.

Ibrahimovic suffered what Manchester United called "significant knee ligament damage," with multiple reports stating that the Swedish star tore his ACL and possibly his PCL as well in a Europa League match against Anderlecht on Thursday.

The 35-year-old Ibrahimovic pledged to come back instead of allowing the injury to derail his career, though, in an Instagram post on Sunday.

"It's no news I got injured ... I will go through this like everything else and come back even stronger," Ibrahimovic wrote. "One thing is for sure, I decide when it's time to stop and nothing else. Giving up is not an option. See you soon."

An error occurred while retrieving the Instagram post. It might have been deleted.

Ibrahimovic's future is complicated by his injury. The LA Galaxy have made recent advances to try and sign him, but Manchester United has maintained interest in bringing him back as well.

For Ibrahimovic, the setback is a rare one, as he had escaped serious injury throughout his storied career until his current setback, one that could keep him out until 2018.