Ibrahimovic admits he decided to RETIRE in the summer before changing his mind

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has revealed he did decide to retire from playing football in the summer before quickly changing his mind.

The 39-year-old Swede had re-joined AC Milan at the beginning of this year following the end of his contract at LA Galaxy, seven years after originally leaving the club.

But following the conclusion of the 2019-20 season, Ibrahimovic admits he told Milan boss Stefano Pioli that he had called time on his career, before memories of his knee injury in 2017 convinced him that he had to continue playing for as long as possible.

'Pioli asked me what I wanted to do [about his future],' Ibrahimovic told Sky Sport Italia.

'I replied: "No, I am not going to continue. Enough. My family is also important, I'm here alone, it's a sacrifice. For six months it's fine, but I don't want to stay another year."

"Pioli said to me: "Okay, I respect you, okay." The next day we talked again: "No, I've decided to retire. Forget the contract, at this age it's not important."

'Then something changed. I didn't want to have any regrets. I called Milan and decided to go on. But at first I decided: "No, I won't stay next year." Already at United I was thinking of quitting. I was 35, 36 years old.'

The Swede picked up a career-threatening knee injury three years ago while at Manchester United, which changed his thinking dramatically.

'After the injury I told myself to continue as long as I could hold on," Ibrahimovic said. "Without football who am I? When you don't do what you've done for 25 years, it's not easy. Am I ready? No, because I feel too good.'

It has proved an inspired decision, with Ibrahimovic currently Serie A's top scorer after hitting the back of the net 10 times, and AC Milan top of the table with a five-point cushion after nine games.

Milan next travel to face Sampdoria on Sunday night - the Rossoneri sealed their qualification for the knockout-stages of the Europa League on Thursday too, with victory over Celtic.