Sergio Aguero: Manchester City striker says most players fearful of returning

Sergio Aguero says “the majority of players are scared” by the prospect of returning to football too soon amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Premier League clubs remain determined to finish the 2019/20 campaign and are due to receive ‘Project Restart’ proposals at a meeting on Friday about how the season could resume as early as June 8.

The government is due to review lockdown restrictions next Thursday and footballers could start training again in small groups soon after.

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Agüero, 31, has been spending lockdown in his Cheshire home, but could return to training in the next couple of weeks.

“The majority of players are scared because they have family, they have children, they have babies, parents,” Aguero told Spanish TV programme El Chiringuito.

“It does scare me but I have just been here with my girlfriend, I haven’t had contact with other people and they say that to contract the disease is very rare and difficult but they say that there are people who have it, and they don’t have symptoms and they can infect you.

“That’s why I’ve stayed at home. You can be infected and you don’t know anything about it.”

Manchester City’s training complex at the Etihad remains closed with players fulfilling individual programmes.

Pep Guardiola and at least eight first-team players of the Premier League champions could face 14 days of mandatory self-isolation when they return to Britain for the resumption of matches.

Foreign players and managers returning to England are likely to be asked to self-isolate as part of steps to curb the spread of the virus.

Fernandinho, Gabriel Jesus, Ederson, Rodri, Bernardo Silva and David Silva are among those to have left the country during the lockdown.

PL players will have to cover faces in full training

Premier League players will have to cover their faces as part of new rules to allow a safe return to full training.

Proposals have been drafted by Premier League director of football Richard Garlick but a return to training will only happen with the agreement of the government.

Plans include testing all players and officials 48 hours before returning to training and they will also be tested for potential respiratory problems associated with coronavirus.

Other proposals include:

• All footballs, global positioning system [GPS] units, cones, corner flags, goalposts and other equipment to be disinfected before and after use by staff wearing personal protective equipment [PPE]
• Players to wear snood/masks at all times
• Cars to be parked three spaces apart
• No massages unless approved by club doctor
• Fluids to be left at designated pick-up points
• Only visit training block to use toilet
• Initially only five players per training group
• Players to be given designated time slots and 15 minutes to prepare
• 75 minutes of small group training
• 15 minutes’ recovery
• Players and staff will be banned from spitting at the training ground

Project Restart: What’s the state of play across Europe?

With football suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, what is the current situation around Europe’s top leagues?

• England – Premier League: The Premier League will hold further talks this week, as it targets a return behind closed doors in June.
• England – EFL: The English Football League (EFL) has warned that football cannot resume before adequate testing arrangements are in place for coronavirus.
• England – Non-League: National League clubs have voted in favour of ending the 2019/20 at its current point and cancelling all remaining fixtures.
• Scotland – Premiership: The SPFL board is due to meet on Monday afternoon for the first time since April 10, when all 42 SPFL clubs voted on proposals to conclude the season below the top division.
• Italy – Serie A: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte has announced professional sports teams can resume training on May 18.
• Spain – La Liga: Health minister Salvador Illa says professional football in Spain is not likely to return before the summer.

(c) Sky Sports 2020: Sergio Aguero: Manchester City striker says most players fearful of returning