Ibrahimovic set to play in televised friendly for Hammarby

AC Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic is set to take part in a televised friendly for Hammarby on Friday.

The 38-year-old returned to his native Sweden after the 2019-20 season was called to a temporary halt due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Ibrahimovic has been training with Hammarby during the self-isolation period, and is not expected to return to San Siro until a date is set for the campaign to resume.

Italy is currently in state of emergency, but lockdown measures are due to end on May 3, with clubs across the country hopeful of getting back to work later in the month.

Ibrahimovic signed a six-month contract with Milan after calling time on a successful spell in MLS with the LA Galaxy, but it is not yet known whether his services will be retained beyond the summer.

The Rossoneri are happy for the former Sweden international to maintain his fitness levels at Hammarby with a view to returning to Italy in peak condition, but the forward recently admitted that he is not sure where his future lies.

Ibrahimovic has now confirmed that he will be participating in an internal friendly at the Tele2 Arena, which will see Hammarby, Bajans and IK Frej players divided into two teams.

He wrote on Twitter: "Want to see me do magic? Watch me in action with Hammarby live and free on Dplay.se tomorrow Friday at 10.00 CET."

Hammarby boss Jesper Jansson said Ibrahimovic has "looked really impressive" in training, before explaining the reasons behind the match during an interview with Fotbollsthlm.

He said: "We call it: 'competition on training'. We have different steps to motivate our players and tomorrow's game will be a part of it.

"We have three teams where there will be match play during training. We see it as a fun thing and as a challenge. It will be fun for the guys to turn up the tempo."