Zlatan Ibrahimovic has never been short on confidence, and the Swedish football superstar has just completed his return to AC Milan at the ripe old age of 38.

Meanwhile, in Sweden, outside Malmo’s stadium, the club at which the Swede began his career 20 years ago, Zlatan’s statue has been met with considerably less fanfare.

Unveiled back in October, with the man himself in attendance, the statue has been repeatedly vandalised. That’s somewhat understandable when you consider that Zlatan bought a 25% stake in archrival club Hammarby, with the news breaking on November 26.

Here’s TalkSPORT:

Malmo supporters responded to the news by first setting the statue on fire then hanging a toilet seat on its right arm.

Recently its nose was also removed.

According to news reports, graffiti reading ‘take away’, written in Swedish, appears next to the statue and only the ankles remain with pictures showing its body and arms hanging over a security fence.

The statue has now been taken away for repairs, with a spokesperson for the Malmo municipality’s sport and recreation department saying that they plan on bringing it back when the restoration is complete.

Vandals have also spraypainted Ibrahimovic’s house in Stockholm, with “Judas” painted on the front door.

The Swede is expected to make his debut for AC Milan in their Serie A match later today against Sampdoria, which kicks off at 4PM South African time.

You wouldn’t bet against him scoring on his debut.

[source:talksport]