• Rossi hurt shoulder and back in motocross accident in April
• 'At the end of the year I'll have to have it operated on'

The MotoGP world champion Valentino Rossi will have surgery at the end of the season to clear up a nagging shoulder injury.

"In the end the problem is the shoulder," Rossi told his fellow motorcycling great Giacomo Agostini at a promotional event, with the words captured on Sky Italia TV. "At the end of the year I'll have to have it operated on."

The Yamaha rider, who will switch to Ducati from next season, suffered a motorcross accident in April in which he hurt his shoulder and back.

He then broke his leg before the Italian grand prix at Mugello in June but made a remarkably quick recovery to race again in six weeks, although his hopes of retaining his title were gone.

He returned to Mugello for the first time this week for a floodlit race and said it was good to be back.