Surgery of Ronaldo's injured right ankle successful

Amsterdam, Netherlands: Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo underwent successful surgery Monday on his right ankle at a hospital in Amsterdam.

The Portugal international will have to wait until just before the start of the new season to discover how long he will be sidelined.

''The initial indications are that the procedure was successful,'' United said in a statement. ''Cristiano will begin his convalescence under the direction of club medical staff and an estimation of his return to full fitness will be possible following review by the specialist in one month.''

That will be about a week before United opens its season against Newcastle in mid-August, a match the club expects him to miss.

Ronaldo was assessed last week by doctors from the Portuguese Football Federation and United, his first face-to-face contact with club officials since openly stating his desire to join Real Madrid.

Surgeon Niek van Dijk carried out Monday's operation at the Academic Medical Center and Ronaldo is expected to leave the hospital Monday.

The 23-year-old Ronaldo revealed after last month's European Championship that he had been playing in pain for the last three months.

Ronaldo scored 42 goals for the Red Devils last season as he led them to them to the Premier League and Champions League titles. But at Euro 2008, Portugal lost in the quarterfinals.

The ankle surgery comes while Ronaldo does little to quash talk of a possible move to Real Madrid, and the Spanish champion's president Ramon Calderon has urged United to accept a bumper fee in the ''transfer of the century.''

Calderon was set to meet United chief executive David Gill on Monday at the first general assembly of the newly formed European Club Association.

No transfer request has been submitted by Ronaldo and United has said it wants to retain the player.