Stockholm (AFP)
Stay confined? Very little for "Ibra". If most of his AC Milan teammates hung up their boots because of coronavirus, Zlatan Ibrahimovic took the opportunity to return to Sweden and tread the lawns, fueling speculation around his future.
Throughout Europe, containment measures have limited or even prevented sports training. All or almost all.
In Sweden, where the restrictions to contain the progression of the Covid-19 are more flexible than elsewhere, the start of the championship scheduled for April 4 has been postponed, but training has never stopped provided contact is avoided narrow during exercises.
On a spring morning, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, never stingy with staging, appeared on the synthetic lawn of the Tele 2 Arena, in the south of Stockholm, with the players of Hammarby, club of 1st division of which he is shareholder.
Since returning from Italy in March, the 38-year-old star striker has grown accustomed to joining the team for training.
An almost normal life for the former Swedish international, returned to the country with his family after the interruption, on March 9, of the championship of Italy, one of the European countries most affected by the virus.
"It is obvious that he has completely different possibilities to stay in shape compared to Serie A players who are still in Italy," said Martin Petersson, football journalist on the private channel TV4, to AFP.
- Next season in Sweden? -
Will the pandemic precipitate the return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to the Swedish league, where it all started for him twenty years ago, in Malmö?
The star's contract, recruited in December by the Italian team after a two-year stay in the United States with the LA Galaxy, expires at the end of the season and some believe that the player does not intend to extend it.
Swedish insiders believe in a return to the land of the giant with the ponytail.
"I feel that Hammarby is not a completely excluded option for the future," said Martin Petersson.
Aside from the Champions League, "he still lacks a trophy (...) that awarded to the champions of Sweden. Maybe he is tempted?"
In an interview with Dplay, an online video service, he said in the spring that he had "a contract with Milan and (wait to see) how it ends - if it ends".
"I said that I wanted to play football for as long as possible, you never know what could happen."
And why not a football career off the field? The idea would trot him in the head.
"I want to learn something new about football from a different angle. I will contribute next to (the field), not on the field," he told the Swedish daily Svenska Dagbladet.
Questioned by the newspaper Dagens Nyheter, the president of Hammarby Richard von Yxkull said, him, not to close the door, underlining that "this decision does not belong to them".
- Imminent return to Italy -
In Milan, only the Swedish striker and the Ivorian Franck Kessié were still missing at the center of Milanello on Tuesday for medical tests requested by the club, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport quoted by the local media.
"If we start on May 4, I will come on May 3. If we start on May 9, I will come on May 8," said the player, according to a Milanese source quoted on Swedish public television in April.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic is reportedly awaiting clearer information about the continuation of Serie A and training.
In Italy, footballers have been allowed to resume individual training this week, but must wait until May 18 at the earliest to train in groups.
The Swedish media however evoke an imminent departure of the player for Italy which hopes, at best, to resume the championship in June.
But the Italian Sports Minister warned Wednesday that it was "impossible to set a certain date" for the resumption of Serie A.
The opportunity for Sweden to take advantage of its star striker for a few more days ...
© 2020 AFP