Injury-plagued Ronaldo targets January return

Brazilian World Cup winner Ronaldo, who has been out of action since February with a knee injury, hopes to play again in January – if he can find a club, his doctor said.

The 32-year-old's physiotherapist Bruno Mazzioti told Radio Brasil that the player hopes to train next week with Flamengo.

“He'll train with Flamengo. Then his idea is to return to action in January 2009 although it remains to see which club he will play for,” said Mazzioti.

Ronaldo, who suffered a serious left knee injury in February, has been without a club since the end of last season when his contract with AC Milan came to an end.

He has been linked with a move to fellow Serie A side Siena who offered him a deal where he would be paid 98,000 euros for every goal scored.

The former world player of the year recently took part in a charity match, but only lasted 22 minutes before being subsituted, blaming it on the exhaustive regime he was following to return to action.