'I'll fight to change this season, do everything to make it happen': Zlatan Ibrahimovic returns to Milan

Swedish legend promises to rescue the season for Serie A strugglers

AC Milan manager Stefano Pioli, right, congratulates Zlatan Ibrahimovic. AP

Who knew what was to come? Zlatan, probably. He made his debut for Malmo in Sweden in September 1999 as a 17-year-old. Amazingly they were relegated in 2000, seen a huge failure. Zlatan came to the rescue and they were promoted the following season. He played 47 games in total for Malmo, scoring 18 goals, before leaving for his next club Ajax in July 2001. Shutterstock

Two league titles and two cups collected by Zlatan during his three seasons with Ajax. He was their most expensive signing ever, naturally, at €8.7m (Dh 35m). A total of 110 games, with 48 goals and 16 assists marked his time in Amsterdam before the next stop. Action Images

Fabio Capello decided Zlatan was the man for him and in 2004 he joined the Italian at Juventus for €16m. Where he became known as Ibra. A great first season, winning the Scudetto, and then again the following year. However, Juve were relegated as punishment in the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal. After 92 games, and 26 goals, Ibra was on the move again. Reuters

Inter Milan, a defining period in the life of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Where he changed from top class to world class (in his own view, of course). Ibra carried Inter to three successive league titles, after his €24.8m move in August 2006, playing 117 games and scoring 66 times. Reuters

Next stop Barcelona, for a fee of €69.5m. After a tremendous start - scoring in the first five league games and deciding El Clasico, he fell out with manager Pep Guardiola. Despite four trophies, 46 games and 22 goals, Ibra only lasted one year at Barca before he was off on his travels again. Reuters

Back to Milan, this time in red and black, in August 2010, for €24m. Would he succeed in Italy again? Of course he would. A Scudetto in 2010/11 and 28 league goals the next season. A huge hit again in Serie A, 85 games and 56 goals, but that didn't stop his next move. Reuters

Off to Paris-Saint-Germain for a mere €23m in July 2012. It was a surprise move at the time but he lasted four years in the French capital after scoring an incredible 30 league goals in his first season. Goals were certainly to Zlatan's taste in France, where he helped himself to 156 in 180 games, winning 12 trophies, including Ligue 1 in all four seasons. Reuters

Zlatan on a free transfer. Some piece of business for Manchester United in July 2016, though his salary was certainly on the generous side. Back with Jose Mourinho after their spell together in Italy with Inter Milan, Zlatan, as usual, made his mark, scoring 28 goals in 46 appearances across the Premier League, Europa League and cup competitions. A handful of games followed in 2017-18 before he was on the move. Reuters

Club No 9 for Zlatan, and over to the USA on another free transfer in March 2018 with Los Angeles Galaxy. A total of 58 games and 53 goals over his two seasons was another fine achievement. In a tweet he wrote: 'I came, I saw, I conquered … You wanted Zlatan. I gave you Zlatan. You are welcome.' But it's still not enough for Zlatan, as the football world eagerly awaits the next chapter in a remarkable story. Reuters

Zlatan is still going strong, now back at AC Milan. Getty

Same look, same oversized ego: Zlatan Ibrahimovic returns to AC Milan for a final challenge seeking to prove he remains the ultimate superstar.

The 38-year-old Swedish striker has signed a six-month contract with the struggling Italian giants vowing to help rescue their season.

"I'm coming back to a club I hugely respect and to the city of Milan I love," he said.

"I'll fight together with my teammates to change the course of this season. I will do everything to make it happen."

Ibrahimovic knows the game in Italy, having played for three different Italian clubs.

He first joined Juventus in 2004, moving on to Inter Milan after the match-fixing scandal in 2006, then arriving at AC Milan in 2010 on loan before making the move permanent.

In 85 games for AC Milan over two seasons, Ibrahimovic scored 56 goals.

One of the most successful clubs in the world, AC Milan are 11th in the league just seven points above relegation.

The club have come up short in their attacking options with just 16 goals in 17 games.

Ibrahimovic left Los Angeles Galaxy last month after a two-year stay and 52 goals in 56 games, leaving him free to sign with another club.

Milan must hope that showy Swede, never far from the headlines, will bring some punch and a winning mentality to the locker room.

The son of a Bosnian and a Croatian, Ibrahimovic grew up in Rosengard, a tough working class neighbourhood of Malmo, Sweden.

Among young people with immigrant backgrounds, Ibrahimovic has become even more of a symbol, as have his cocky attitude, individualism and zealous ambition.

But he has fallen out of favour in his hometown where a bronze statue unveiled in his honour in Malmo in October has been vandalised by fans angry that he has bought shares in a club in Stockholm.

Ibrahimovic had turned out for many of Europe's top teams, such as Amsterdam's Ajax, AC Milan, Barcelona, Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester United, before he signed for US team LA Galaxy in 2018.

In his second autobiography entitled "Football is me," published in 2018 he claims to have changed the history of his sport.

"Now go back to baseball," he told his supporters at the Los Angeles Galaxy, where he was, between 2018 and 2019, the best player in the North American Championship.

"I came, I saw, I conquered. Thank you LA Galaxy for making me feel alive again."

During his time at PSG he promised to stay "if they replace the Eiffel Tower with (his) statue".

"I arrived like a king, I'm leaving like a legend," he said after he left the French club.

He proved in California that he still had legs after injuries precipitated his departure from Manchester United in 2017.

"Lions do not recover like humans," he said.

But Ibrahimovic's strength is that he has the talent to back up his verbal jibes.

He delighted fans with his "kung fu" goals, his outrageous overhead goal against England in 2012, or the slalom in 2004 with Ajax, dribbling past six players to beat the goalkeeper, which launched his career.

At PSG, he became the best scorer in the club's history, with 156 goals in 180 games, before being overtaken by Edinson Cavani.

He was twice top Serie A scorer, in 2009 with Inter and in 2012 with AC Milan, he also has the record for the Swedish national team with 62 goals.

His first year with Manchester United was a success, with 28 goals in 46 games, before he was sidelined with a his knee ligament tear before leaving Europe in March 2018.

But he remains and exemplary professional, as Italian coach Carlo Ancelotti found.

In his book, "My Coaching Secrets", Ancelotti said he had been told the Swede was "a difficult player to manage".

But he discovered at PSG a player "very available and professional, always focused on his work."

"His fascinating character and extraordinary consistency in training have always been examples for his teammates," added the Italian.

At the age when most players are on the decline, the Swede is trying to stretch an already rich career.

France's Thierry Henry and England's David Beckham returned to Europe at the end of their careers, after time across the Atlantic, but without regaining their magic. Succeeding where these stars have failed is a challenge the Swede will relish.