RIO DE JANEIRO, March 27 (Xinhua) -- Former Liverpool and Valencia defender Fabio Aurelio is set to make his debut for Brazilian top-flight club Gremio, more than nine months after suffering a serious knee injury.

The 33-year-old trained freely on Wednesday and was included in coach Vanderlei Luxemburgo's preliminary squad to face Cruzeiro in the Campeonato Gaucho on Thursday, Estado de S.Paulo reported.

Aurelio underwent surgery last July to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee suffered during a training exercise just days after signing with the Porto Alegre club.

He will compete for Gremio's left-back spot with Arsenal loanee Andre Santos and highly rated teenager Guilherme Biteco.

Aurelio was released by Liverpool in June last year after six seasons and 87 first-team appearances for the Merseyside club. He also spent six years at Valencia having joined the Spanish outfit from Sao Paulo in September 2000.