Barcelona and Netherlands midfielder Frenkie De Jong said that he and his teammates will need "a few weeks of training" before they can get back to playing regular league football. LaLiga clubs returned to training earlier this month with the players beginning group training on May 18.
"I don't think I'm ready to play a game yet. We still need a few weeks of training. First individually, then in small groups and then as a whole team. We'll be ready to play again in a few weeks' time," said De Jong in an interview to Barcelona's website.
"I think it was good to start by training separately because everyone worked at their own pace and could see how their fitness was before working with the rest of the group. I think everything felt good enough! It was a good build-up."
De Jong said that he was missing training in the unusually long break that had come due to the coronavirus pandemic. LaLiga now plans on resuming the season next month.
"I was missing training, my team-mates, playing football and all that," said De Jong.
"Two or three months apart were a long time. It is always nice to meet up again after a separation for holidays or whatever, but it's normally just three weeks or so and this was almost three months."
( With inputs from IANS )