Report: Pele had hip surgery in the US last month

Photo credit: AFP.

Brazilian soccer legend Pele had hip surgery in the United States last month and is still there undergoing physiotherapy, a newspaper reported on Thursday. The Folha de Sao Paulo said surgeons in New York City operated on the 75-year-old to fix a loose hip implant he received in 2012.

Winner of three World Cups with Brazil, the ex-striker is widely regarded as the best soccer player of all time. He scored 1,281 goals in 1,363 matches.

The newspaper quoted his doctor Roberto Dantas Queiroz as saying doctors also treated Pele for fibrosis in the hip area. Pele was expected to stay in the United States until February.

SEE MORE: January’s latest transfer window deals and news.

The newspaper said he spent Christmas with his daughter Kelly and his grandchildren, who live in New York.

On Christmas Day he published a photograph on Twitter of himself standing up smiling with his family.

The hospital where he was reportedly treated declined to comment to AFP.

It was the latest in a series of operations for Pele. The previous one was a spine operation in July.