Ronaldo To Miss Start Of Season?

Cristiano Ronaldo could miss the start of the season as he is expected to undergo surgery on his right ankle.

The 23-year-old Portugal international, who is on holiday after Euro 2008, was examined in Portugal yesterday by a specialist flown out by United to assess the damage to the ankle that has proved problematic since March. Its condition has deteriorated with the player's involvement in the Euro.

United's club doctor, Steve McNally, and his counterpart from the Portuguese Football Federation, met the player in Lisbon on Wednesday in an attempt to resolve the problem that has troubled Ronaldo since March.

Despite both medics concluding that surgery was the best option, United delayed a decision until receiving the verdict of their own specialist, who has now formed the same opinion that an operation would be the quickest route to curing the problem and restoring Ronaldo to full fitness.

United have yet to decide whether Ronaldo must return to Manchester for the operation or allow him to go under the knife in Portugal, but the double Footballer of the Year, who has still to play down talk of a summer move to Real Madrid, is facing at least four weeks on the sidelines as a result of the surgery.

With his rehabilitation from surgery delaying his return to pre-season training, originally scheduled for July 14, United fear that he could be out of action until early September.

Such an absence would rule him out of the club's entire programme of pre-season friendlies, which begins at Aberdeen next Saturday, plus the opening fixtures of the Premier League season and the Uefa Super Cup clash against Zenit St Petersburg in Monaco on Aug 29.

With international fixtures pencilled in for the start of September, Ronaldo's first appearance of the season for United could come in the Premier League visit to Liverpool on Sept 13 - a week before the trip to Chelsea.

However, maybe this injury worry will put off his proposed move to Real Madrid.