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Obituary | Dr Freddie Fu, the Hong Kong surgeon who saved Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s career, dies aged 71

  • Fu carried out over 20,000 knee surgeries since his first in 1981, 6,000 of them ACL repairs
  • Fu was famously credited with saving the career of superstar footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic

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Dr Freddie Fu Ho-keung, who saved the playing career of legendary footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic, has died at 71. Photos: Freddie Fu

World-renowned Hong Kong surgeon Dr Freddie Fu Ho-keung died at home in Pittsburgh, USA aged 71 on Saturday.

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Fu was famously credited with saving the career of superstar footballer Zlatan Ibrahimovic after the Swede suffered a career-threatening knee injury while playing for Manchester United in March 2017.

After performing surgery on the striker’s seriously ruptured anterior cruciate ligament, Fu told the Post that Ibrahimovic had “many years” left at the top of the game.

Ibrahimovic made a near miraculous recovery following Fu’s surgery and went on to play for the club again that season, returning for the final of Manchester United’s successful Uefa Europa League campaign, Ibrahimovic’s first European title.

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About to turn 40, Ibrahimovic scored his 503rd career goal earlier this month for his latest club, Italian giants AC Milan.

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