Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has revealed Cristiano Ronaldo could return ahead of schedule.
The United boss managed to keep the Portugal star away from the clutches of Real Madrid following a summer of speculation but last season's top Premier League scorer is unavailable as he recovers from an ankle operation.
The surgery took place on July 7 and, although he is still some way off a return to training, the news is good on the former Sporting winger.
"Cristiano is doing very well," said Ferguson. "Excellent.
"He's well ahead of schedule - the specialist was surprised actually with the condition he was in.
"So, for the next three weeks he'll go on that rehabilitation and then the final parts of it and into endurance work and serious running before he gets into the football side with us."