Zlatan Ibrahimovic compares himself to NBA star after record-breaking comeback

The 41-year-old Swede made his first appearance for AC Milan since May 2022 on Sunday.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic feels like two-time NBA MVP Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic after returning to the pitch for AC Milan.

The veteran striker ended a nine-month injury lay-off by making a record-breaking second-half appearance in AC Milan’s 2-0 victory over Atalanta in Serie A.

By doing so, he surpassed Alessandro Costacurta (41y and 25d) as the club’s oldest player in the Italian league’s three-points-per-win era since 1993/94 – aged 41 years and 146 days old.

“I want to help the team in every way by doing what I have to do to be there on the field,” Zlatan told Sky Sport Italia. “I want to be there when the coach and the team need me.

“It’s obvious things change between the age of 30 and 41, but I feel like Jokic in the NBA.”

‘I’ve lived this year with great suffering’

The former Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United forward underwent surgery after sustaining a long-term knee injury in a 3-0 win over Sassuolo last May.

“I’ve lived this year with great suffering,” Ibrahimovic said on what it means to be back on the pitch.

“I’ve been out for a year. I didn’t feel well and I couldn’t do what I wanted to do. I went on with suffering to help the team. But in reality, I wasn’t well. Today, I can say that I’m fine and that I can give what I can to the team. Then obviously, the more you play, the more you train and the more you improve.”

Juan Musso’s own goal and Junior Messias’ late strike sealed AC Milan all three points on Sunday. It was their fourth win in a row and third in Serie A. They are up in third place in the league table, 18 points behind runaway leaders Napoli.

Stefano Pioli’s side will now prepare for a trip to Fiorentina this Saturday for their next game.

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