Defender Fabio Cannavaro has revealed he will consider his Real Madrid future in the January transfer window.
The 35-year-old has been heavily linked with a return to his hometown club Napoli in the winter, a move the Italians have admitted they would love to complete but which they feel Real would not agree too.
Cannavaro heaped praise on his former employers, whose good start to the Serie A season was marred by a 1-0 defeat at Torino on Sunday to leave them in fifth place going into the winter break.
But while he denied having spoken to anyone at the club about a move he admitted a transfer away from Madrid in the near future was a possibility.
"In early January we'll assess the intentions of Real Madrid, and then act accordingly, even considering bids from other clubs," he told Corriere dello Sport.
"(Napoli director general) Pierpaolo Marino and I sat down together, but we didn't talk about football.
"The club (Napoli) has focused on young people, and the results are good, even if the team is proving to have some problems lately away from home, while at the San Paolo they are doing extraordinary things.
"Can they reach the Champions League? Perhaps."
On the future of his own club, Cannavaro was less optimistic, as he fears the ailing Primera Liga champions could fall victim to any opponent until the club's extensive injury list starts to clear.
Madrid go into the Christmas break a massive 12 points behind Primera Liga leaders Barcelona after losing four of their last six league matches, while overall the Spanish giants have been defeated in seven of their last 15 competitive outings.
One of the main reasons for that dire run of form is the club's injury problems, which have seen Ruud van Nistelrooy, Mahamadou Diarra and Ruben de la Red ruled out for the season, and the likes of Pepe, Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Gabriel Heinze and Miguel Torres also sidelined for periods recently.
Madrid should welcome back a number of their absentees when the league restarts in 2009, while new arrivals Klaas Jan Huntelaar, Lassana Diarra and Dani Parejo should also be available - and for Cannavaro those reinforcements cannot come soon enough.
"All I'm interested in is being able to recover the injured players. If we do, we can defeat anyone. With 10 players missing like we had in this period, we could lose against anyone,'' said the Italian World Cup winner, who has not given up hope of catching runaway leaders Barca just yet.
"I know that nobody has ever overturned a 12-point deficit to win La Liga, but our objective is to reduce as much of the difference as possible before we next face them (Barcelona). Then, after the 'derby', there will still be five weeks remaining,'' he said in Gazzetta dello Sport.
"Madrid should be much closer to full strength when next February they resume their bid to be crowned European champions for the 10th time in their history."
To achieve that Madrid must first overcome Liverpool in the last 16 of the Champions League - a stage the Spanish side have failed to get beyond since 2004.
Looking ahead to that match, Cannavaro said: "In the last four years we have always gone out at the last 16 and they (Liverpool) have made two finals and a semi-final. The newspapers say they are favourites, and that's fine by me."
The 2006 Ballon d'Or winner also had words of praise for former Real Madrid players David Beckham and Antonio Cassano.
Beckham recently joined Italian side AC Milan on loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy, a move which Cannavaro believes will show people that the former England captain still has plenty to offer.
"The arrival of Beckham in Milan is not just a marketing exercise," he said.
"David is an exceptional sportsman, and he can still do so much, and I am sure that in the three months he's a Rossonero he'll show us what he's worth."
On Cassano he added that the Sampdoria hitman was good enough for a return to the Italy team.
He said: "Antonio is a great player, I know (national coach Marcelo) Lippi follows his progress. It's up to the players to give the coaches trouble, in this case by doing well with their club."
