Zlatan Ibrahimovic has confirmed he is leaving Milan after this season, according to Sinisa Mihajlovic.
The Bologna boss, who was a coach at Inter during Ibrahimovic's time there, claims he has received assurances from Ibrahimovic that he will once again be a free agent when his short-term deal at San Siro expires.
Ibrahimovic has scored three times in eight appearances since returning to Milan in January after two years in MLS with LA Galaxy.
"He called me a few days ago and we'll see what he decides to do in the summer," Mihajlovic told Serbian show Vece sa Ivanom Ivanovicem. "He certainly won't remain at Milan, it remains to be seen whether he'll join us or return to Sweden."
God iZ back and watches over you pic.twitter.com/yWxN638Zbx
— Zlatan Ibrahimović (@Ibra_official) May 14, 2020
The 38-year-old began his career at Malmo before moving to Ajax and he has a statue outside his first club's stadium.
However, his relationship with Malmo's fans has been soured due to Ibrahimovic's part ownership of rivals Hammarby and the striker's monument has been vandalised on numerous occasions, reaching the stage that it is to be relocated following numerous acts of damage against it.
Anders Malmstrom, City of Malmo’s media spokesman, confirmed that a council working committee will propose a relocation on Monday.
Malmstrom told the Associated Press that “the statue should stay in Malmo but get a different location than at the [Swedbank] Stadium.”
After one attack in February, Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan, had suggested the statue could be moved to the Italian city where Ibrahimovic currently plays, but his proposal was rejected by Malmo officials.
The statue has been knocked over, set on fire, covered in graffiti, had its nose cut off and had a toilet lid draped over its arm, among other things. It has been kept in a secret location ever since the latest attack in February.
A move to Bologna could therefore be appealing to Ibrahimovic, with Mihajlovic not expecting to encounter the type of problems ex-Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola had with the brash Swede.
"Ibra treats me differently from the others, he watches what he says and how he behaves," Mihajlovic added. "That's because dangerous people recognise each other!"
Ibrahimovic is due to be out of contract after the 2019-20 Serie A concludes, though there is an option to extend the deal by another year.