Zlatan.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic must have been devastated to be ruled out of Manchester United’s Europa League final against Ajax.
Not only was it against his former club, but it was played at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, in his native country of Sweden. Incidentally, the very first match at the stadium was marked by four goals from Zlatan - including a 40-yard overhead kick - against England.
Zlatan renamed the Friends Arena the 'Zlatan Arena' in an Instagram video on Wednesday night but he was in no fit shape to perform any overhead kicks this week. Instead, he rocked up to the stadium in a buggy as it transported him pitch side, crutches in hand.
Last month, the Swede underwent a knee operation to repair ligament damage in a bid to save his career.
And it seems as the operation has worked wonders.
'Ready for the final'
Earlier this week, Ibrahimovic posted a video of him walking in a swimming pool with the caption: “Ready for the final.”
What did he mean by that? Everyone knew he was never going to be fit for the match.
But, after United triumphed 2-0 thanks to goals from Paul Pogba and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, we soon realised what Zlatan had been training for.
Immediately after the final whistle, he found someone to give his crutches to before hobbling around the pitch to congratulate his teammates - running past the likes of Marcos Rojo, Luke Shaw and Ashley Young who kept hold of their crutches.
Absolute brilliant.
United players delighted too...Zlatan gets rid of his crutch to get involved!! pic.twitter.com/G2QvUyCvnM
— Eurosport UK (@Eurosport_UK) May 24, 2017
We bet his knee will be sore this morning.
Watch: Zlatan ditches his crutches
LOVE THIS MAN pic.twitter.com/KtXkFHmlsn
— ً (@UtdHolic) May 24, 2017
United fans react
And United fans on Twitter absolutely loved it. Take a look at the reaction below:
The number of crutches during the celebrations was possibly the saddest record set last night. Zlatan is a beast #AJAXMUN #UELfinal #MUFC
— Manik Jain (@manikj92) May 25, 2017
Zlatan JUMPED during the celebrations 😂 barely been a few weeks since he had a double ligament tear & the guy is jumping. Unreal 😂 #UELFinal
— Sreejit (@ThisHungryPanda) May 24, 2017
Zlatan showed some decent pace during the celebrations on the pitch. He's buzzing
— James (@writtenoff_mufc) May 24, 2017
Zlatan limping across for the celebrations like a true G. Crutches for what when you're superhuman??
— Black White Walker (@Mulewa92) May 24, 2017
Dafuc Zlatan?! With an ACL injury, surprisingly he was not using crutches 😂
— n (@massturdd) May 25, 2017
Zlatan doesn't need Crutches... Crutches need Zlatan 😂😂😂 pic.twitter.com/xQkIr20WiI
— Mata's Control (@iNaheemMUFC) May 24, 2017
The man, albeit hobbling, does not need crutches barely a month or two from ACL-MCL reconstructive surgery. That is Zlatan! #NotHuman
— Videet (@videetthakkar) May 24, 2017
I mean.. How many fucking crutches are on this pitch celebrating? Except for Zlatan. Zlatan needs no crutches. #mufc
— Yomna Aref (@yomnaaref) May 24, 2017
Zlatan completely busted his ligaments the other day.
Crutches? Bun dat
pic.twitter.com/xP0RIThzxc— Poor First Touch (@InvertdWhinger) May 24, 2017
What a legend.
After the celebrations, he explained that he wasn’t feeling any pain because of the joy of winning.
Zlatan feels no pain
"When you win, you are always good, you don't feel even more pain," Ibrahimovic said.
"I regret not being able to play this game. It is normal, I wanted to be on the pitch but the situation is this.
"I had a different role, I supported the team, but what matters is that we won. That's the most important thing because this is a collective trophy.
"You win and lose together. Now we raised another trophy, which is the third this year of the five available."
Zlatan on his future
But is it that the last time we’ll see Zlatan in a United capacity? His contract expires in a couple of weeks and his injury is believed to have ended his career at Old Trafford.
But Zlatan refused to rule out remaining at the club beyond his current deal.
“In a few weeks I'll be back in the field," he told Sky Italia.
"Where? Let's see."
