Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain are set to open their title defense on Friday, August 7, without their prized striker Zlatan Ibrahimović due to an injured knee amidst news of an impending transfer back to his former team AC Milan.
The Guardian reported that the Sweden international sprained his knee during PSG's 2-0 2015 Trophée des Champions victory over Olympique Lyonnais held at the Saputo Stadium in Montreal last Saturday.
The untimely injury would make the 33-year-old forward miss the French champs' season opener against Lille OSC at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy this weekend.
However, there would be no worries for manager Laurent Blanc as Ibrahimović would return to the team, and not anywhere else, as soon as he recovered from the setback.
Just recently, ESPN indicated of speculations that the Swede captain, who still has one year left in his deal with Les Parisiens, would come back to the Rossoneri before the new season begins. Milan's new manager, 46-year-old Yugoslavian Siniša Mihajlović, seemed quite thrilled about it and even remarked that they would become instant title contenders with 6-foot-5 forward around.
Ibrahimović did not confirm or deny the rumors, but instead said that it was up to his agent whether he would be transferred or not and that he is "very happy at PSG" as of the moment, but he would make a "surprise" move next year.
The diverse indications seemed to mean that the Swede's days at the Parc des Princes are indeed numbered and the injury to open the season may just be what Blanc's men really needed to get used to life after Ibrahimović's impending departure.