Former France international Djibril Cisse says he may return to football after undergoing a successful hip operation.
Cisse, 34, announced his retirement last October after revealing that he would need a hip replacement. But the former Liverpool, Sunderland and QPR striker says that making a comeback seems a realistic possibility now that he is pain free.
"A return to the pitch - why not?," he told the Auxerre-based paper L'Yonne Republicaine.
"If I can, I'll play again. We'll give it a try.
"I retired because I couldn't even walk anymore. But my hip operation went very well.
"I'm no longer taking painkillers, and at the moment I have good hopes of playing again. We'll see."
Cisse spent the 2014-15 season with Bastia in Ligue 1 but retired after ending a short-term deal with JS Saint-Pierroise, a team in the French overseas department of Reunion last September.
Having won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005 and scored over 250 goals in 16 years, Cisse says he could well end up back at Auxerre.
The club where he started his professional career are currently eighth in Ligue 2, five points off the promotion places.
"It would be possible," he said. "I wouldn't be the only decision maker but if the opportunity presented itself it would obviously allow me to come full circle.
"It's the club of my heart. I grew up here. Without Auxerre, nothing would have been possible for me."