Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrated AC Milan's Serie A title win on the streets of Milan in style. It wasn't his first championship, yet anyone would have thought otherwise given his exuberant celebrations.

The 40-year-old was the figurehead of a Milan side that lifted the league title for the first time in 11 years. It was a promise fulfilled now, two years after the Swede launched the proclamation that the Rossoneri were going to be champions again on the day of his presentation back in January 2020.

Now, however, Zlatan's latest title is gaining more notoriety. The player himself has made official the story of his latest injury, one that has kept him out for virtually the whole of 2022. An ordeal that no one but him suffered. And he did so in silence.

"For the last 6 months I have been playing without ACL in my left knee," Ibrahimovic explained.

"My knee has been swollen for 6 months. I have only been able to train with the team 10 times in the last 6 months. I have had over 20 injections in 6 months.

"I have drained my knee once a week for 6 months. Painkillers every day for 6 months. I hardly slept for 6 months because of the pain. I have never suffered so much on and off the pitch."

Given AC Milan's need for leadership, the Sweden international kept his pain a relative secret, determined to keep good on his promise.

"In my mind I had only one goal: to make my teammates and the coach Scudetto champions, because I made them a promise," he continued.

"Today I have a new ACL and another trophy."

Milan announced that the Swede underwent a long-planned arthroscopy in Lyon. He will be out for 7-8 months and will not return until 2021, when he will be 41 years old.

Reports in Italy suggest that Zlatan's objective has not changed: to renew, recover at Milanello and play next season.

Having undergone "an anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction, with lateral reinforcement and meniscus repair", Ibrahimovic's latest challenge is ready.