Premier League clubs are expected to approve the introduction of phase two in training on Wednesday, with the hope that a date for the return of the league could be announced this week.
The UK Government has given the Premier League Approval to progress to the next stage of Project Restart, which will enable competitive a close-contract training with a maximum group size of 12.
Players and managers will have the chance to discuss any remaining concerns over phase two when they hold separate video calls with the Premier League on Tuesday, Sky Sports states.
On Wednesday, clubs will then vote on whether to move to the next stage of training, which could be introduced at training grounds before the end of this week – and the week could end with the Premier League putting forward the final drafts of Project Restart, with a proposed fixture list, including the date when competitive action could resume.
An initially planned date of June 12 is now widely regarded to not be achievable and a delay is expected, potentially as far back as June 26 but June 19 remains a feasible date for the Premier League’s return.
There have been encouraged by the success of the Bundesliga’s return, with Germany’s top-two divisions seeing two match-weeks pass by without complications and are set for the first round of midweek fixtures over the course of the coming days.
There are still a number of challenges to overcome though, with a decision needing to be made around plans for a worst-case scenario if the season has to be curtailed at a later date, as well as contingency plans for relegation.