Zlatan Ibrahimovic rejects retirement and vows to return 'even stronger' from injury despite Manchester United doubts

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has ruled out any chance of retirement despite the Manchester United striker suffering a serious knee injury that will rule him out “for a while”, and vowed to "come back even stronger" even if it means playing on one leg.

35-year-old Ibrahimovic suffered a suspected ruptured cruciate ligament in his right knee, with United manager Jose Mourinho refusing to confirm the injury on Sunday despite admitting that he knows what it is as he wanted to give the medical team longer to fully diagnose to problem.

Ibrahimovic landed awkwardly during United’s Europa League victory over Anderlecht last Thursday and hyper-extended his knee, forcing him to limp from the field of play and face up to nine months on the sidelines.

Mourinho confirmed that the injury is “really bad” and expressed his sadness for the veteran to suffer the blow towards the end of his career, but the Swede has taken to Instagram to not only thank fans for their kind wishes but also to end any talk of hanging up his boots.

“First of all, thank you for all the support and love,” Ibrahimovic wrote on Instagram.

“It’s no news I got injured so I will be out of football for a while.

“I will go through this like everything else and come back even stronger. So far I played with one leg so it shouldn't be any problem. 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.”

With Ibrahimovic set to be out of action until January, Mourinho and United have a big decision to make over his future. The club were keen to tie the forward down to a one-year extension clause that is currently in his contract, though the striker had yet to commit himself up to the time of his injury.

Mourinho admitted ahead of Sunday’s 2-0 victory over Burnley that he is “really sad” about the injury on a personal level and not because of the impact his absence will have in the United team.

“It’s a big blow but we are really sad for them, not for us as a team because they are much more important than us and their injuries are really big,” the United manager told Sky Sports.

“No player deserves to be injured but I think in this case it’s even more sad because Zlatan, in this stage of his career it’s really, really hard, and Marcos probably at this moment in his career is playing very well for us and also finally getting a position as central defender in the international team, so we’re really sad for them.”

Asked if he could confirm how long Ibrahimovic will be sidelined for, Mourinho said: “Yeah I know but I think it’s for the medical department to be more specific and to evaluate over the next few days to see an expert’s opinion and we have to wait and see for that.

“I don’t care about it in this moment, I just want the player [Ibrahimovic] to recover the best he can and we’ll see about it. Honestly, I’m not sad for the team, I’m not worried about the impact that not to have them [will cause].

“I don’t care about it, I just think about them, and like everybody I’m really sad.”

With Ibrahimovic absent, Mourinho elected to recall both Anthony Martial and Wayne Rooney for the trip to Turf Moor and was rewarded with goals from both that keeps United well in with a chance at finishing in the top four.