"Retirement? We're not at that point yet," says Zlatan Ibrahimović

Age is just a number for Ibrahimovic - look at his physique 0:33

(CNN) --

He turned 41 earlier this month and, due to a serious knee injury, won't play until next year, but the last thing on Zlatan Ibrahimović's mind right now is retirement.

"I have a great passion for the game," the AC Milan striker told CNN's Becky Anderson in an interview.

“The situation is different now because of my age and with my teammates, but I am enjoying every day because I think that when I leave football, I will miss it so much that I will not want to regret it by saying 'I should have continued playing,'” added Ibrahimović, whose contract with Milan runs until June 30, 2023.

It is his second spell with the Serie A club (the Swede has played 74 games and has scored 36 goals for Milan);

last season Ibrahimović helped the

win their first Serie A title in 11 years.

How do you see Zlatan Ibrahimovic as an actor?

0:40

“I try to keep up with these youngsters by working hard and keeping up the pace,” added Ibrahimović, who is Sweden's all-time leading scorer with 62 goals.

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Although he does not contemplate retiring yet, Ibrahimović admits that when he feels he is not contributing to the team, he is "done" playing.

"I want to be healthy and when I'm at that level I'll keep playing and see how far I can go," said the Swede.

“As long as I can achieve results, I will continue playing.

The day I slow down, I want the people around me to be honest and tell me, and then I'll be realistic."

success

, the Swedish striker revealed on social media that he played the last six months of the season without an anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee — the strong band of tissue that connects the thigh bone to the hip bone. shin and knee joint.

“I was injected more than 20 times in six months,” Ibrahimović said in a post on his verified Instagram account.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

“I had to filter my knee once a week for six months.

Painkillers every day for six months.

I barely slept for six months because of the pain.

I've never suffered so much on and off the pitch."

However, Ibrahimović still played 23 of 28 league games last season and scored eight goals.

“I think in my case I have this drive, I want to be better every day,” Ibrahimović told Anderson.

"I have the mindset that if I don't work hard enough, I'm not satisfied."

“And I think that attitude can take you far, to a level where you challenge your body because it's about challenging yourself.

How far can I go?

How far can I take my body?

It is not the first time that Ibrahimović has been sidelined for an extended period due to injury.

He had another serious knee problem while playing for Manchester United.

That injury was so serious that it threatened to end his career.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Credit: MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images

“That was my first major injury, so it was all new to me,” said Ibrahimović reflecting on what happened to him in 2017, which kept him out of action for almost a year.

"So I really didn't know what to expect in that situation."

“At first I was a little scared because I really didn't know if I would be able to play again or what would happen.

But I went slowly, day by day," she commented.

"It was more of a mental thing to stay calm, be patient and, let's say, do a boring workout."

Milan have won the Champions League or European Cup seven times, second only to Spanish giants Real Madrid.

However, the Rossoneri have not been champions since 2007, in a rare dry spell for the club at European level.

Since then, teams like Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain have benefited from the infusion of large sums of cash from oil-rich Gulf nations, while the English Premier League is awash with foreign investment.

“Money brings possibilities,” Ibrahimović told Anderson.

"Money brings alternatives that others may not be able to bring and the enthusiasm in the Premier League is much bigger than in Serie A and that's why the numbers are much more important there."

"But that also makes it exciting, because it becomes a challenge for the Italian clubs to beat the other clubs... we are still professional players and the ball is still round and we are doing the same thing."

Zlatan Ibrahimovic