Ronaldo reportedly may be out up to 3 months

Any lingering hopes that Cristiano Ronaldo could make a swift comeback from injury have been dashed with the news that he faces at least another month on the sidelines.

Spanish daily Marca reports the Real Madrid star entered a hospital in Amsterdam by the back door on Thursday and underwent a series of scans on his injured ankle under the supervision of ankle expert Dr. Niek van Dijk.

Few details have been made available so far, but the key news is that the 24-year-old will be out for around a month if all goes well in his recovery program.

Real Madrid released a statement on Wednesday evening, stating that, "There has been no clinical improvement of the bone edema." If the problem persists, Ronaldo could be forced to have surgery.

Manuel Pellegrini will be desperately hoping that this eventuality doesn't occur, as "CR9" would then be out until well into the New Year. Marca believes Ronaldo would need another two or three months to fully recover from any operation.