RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Football legend Pele is recovering in the United States after undergoing hip surgery in a New York hospital, Brazilian media reported on Thursday.

The 75-year-old needed corrective surgery in December after the dislocation of a three-year-old prosthetic hip, the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper reported.

He has been receiving regular physiotherapy from US specialists and is due to return to Brazil next week, the report said.

Pele, a three-time World Cup winner and regarded by many as the football's greatest player, has suffered a series of health problems in recent years.

Last July he had an operation to relieve a trapped nerve in his back, two months after undergoing prostate surgery.

In November last year he was hospitalized with a urinary tract infection following the removal of kidney stones.