Brazilian football legend, Pele has finally left hospital after recovering from an operation to remove a tumour from his colon and will now undergo chemotherapy. 

Pele had been hospitalised for nearly a month and was operated to remove the tumor on September 4 at Albert Einstein Hospital.

The hospital said on Thursday that he was stable and cleared in the morning to leave the hospital, but would ‘continue with chemotherapy.’

Pele left the hospital later in the evening and took to Instagram to thank the hospital staff who have treated him.

Alongside a picture of himself, his wife Marcia Aoki, doctors and nurses, Pele wrote: ‘When the path is difficult, celebrate each step of the journey. Focus on your happiness. 

‘It’s true that I can’t jump anymore, but these past few days, I’ve been punching the air more times than usual. I am so happy to be back at home.

‘I want to thank the entire Albert Einstein Hospital team, who made my stay a pleasant one, with a humane and very affectionate welcome.

‘Thanks also to all of you, who from afar, make my life complete with so many messages of love.’ 

The fromer Santos, Brazil and New York Cosmos player, who turns 81 on October 23, is the only man to win three World Cups. He rose to international prominence when he helped Brazil win the 1958 World Cup as a 17-year-old, repeating the feat in 1962 and 1970.