Real Madrid are willing to release Ruud van Nistelrooy in January so as to keep alive his hopes of playing in the World Cup.

According reports in Spain, Real are not keen to let players go in the middle of the season but the Marca newspaper revealed that they will give the Dutchman special dispensation.

Van Nistelrooy retired from international football after Euro'08, but recently expressed his desire to make a comeback at the 2010 World Cup in a final attempt to win silverware with Oranje.

The former Manchester United striker has not been able to sustain a run in the Real first-team this year after the 33-year-old suffered a series of injures.

Closely monitoring the situation are Liverpool who, according to vaious reports from England, are set to swoop for the Dutch striker.