José Mourinho has spelled out his desire to return to training and playing at the earliest opportunity – pending the all-clear from the government and health authorities.
The Tottenham manager has previously spoken of his determination to complete the season even if it means matches being played without fans and his competitive juices have been further stirred by the return of the Bundesliga this weekend.
Mourinho was on the conference call between the Premier League managers and the league on Wednesday when the first phase of a return-to-training plan was discussed. Spurs’ players have been able to use the club’s training ground in Enfield for solo fitness sessions since 28 April and the hope is that they can work within physically distanced small groups from Tuesday.
Mourinho said: “I have not asked for any delay. I want to train and I am desperate for the Premier League to return as soon as it’s safe to do so, particularly now as we are seeing other leagues preparing to return to action.
“I am extremely proud of the way my players have maintained their fitness – they have shown great professionalism, passion and dedication. We have all been working extremely hard through remote squad training sessions and isolated running now the pitches are available to use again at the training centre.
“Every player is extremely committed in terms of their individual work and now we wait for clearance to commence working in small groups again, which I will fully support.”
