MIDDLESBROUGH, England (AP) _ Defender Abel Xavier trained with former side Middlesbrough on Thursday after completing a one-year doping ban.

``I've already started training and I'm negotiating my contract,'' Xavier told Portugal news agency Lusa.

``I'm doing specific work and we have time to discuss my contract but the most important thing is having returned.''

The former Portugal international said he received an invite from Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson to train.

Manager Gareth Southgate said the club ``contemplated long and hard'' about reaching out to Xavier.

``Whether he is innocent or guilty, he has had a year's ban, he has served his time and myself and the club feel that people deserve the opportunity to rebuild their lives or rebuild their careers in a situation like that,'' Southgate said.

Xavier was the first player in England's Premier League found guilty of taking performance-enhancing drugs. He was handed an 18-month ban after testing positive for methandienone while playing for Middlesbrough in a UEFA Cup match against Greek side Xanthi in September 2005.

The 33-year-old reportedly claimed he unknowingly ingested the banned drug _ also known as dianabol _ in a contaminated supplement.

His steroid ban was reduced to 12 months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, European sport's governing body last month.