The surgeon who operated on Zlatan Ibrahimovic has claimed that the Manchester United striker is far from done and still has "many years" of football ahead of him.

There were fears that the ex-Sweden international would be forced to bring the curtain down on his glittering career, having been ruled out for the best part of a year with medial ligament damage in his knee.

Ibrahimovic underwent successful surgery at Pittsburgh's University Hospital last week, and the man credited with potentially saving his career - Dr Freddie Fu - believes that the 35-year-old is now on the mend.

"I can't discuss too many details, I don't want to get in trouble with Manchester United," he told the South China Morning Post. "But I can tell you he's in superb shape in all things.

"Healthy morphology, the quality of the bone and muscle, everything is as good as you can possibly see. He's one of the top athletes I've ever touched, he is in superb shape.

"He can still play for many years, he's so healthy, so strong, biologically, bone morphology, everything, is absolutely very healthy."

Ibrahimovic signed a 12-month contract at Old Trafford last summer, meaning that he will soon be without a club unless he agrees fresh terms.