Premier League training plans emerge as Leeds United work towards suggested EFL date of return

It is understood medical representatives from Premier League clubs gathered for a conference call on Saturday to discuss division-wide protocols on a variety of subjects, including training and testing, to allow football to return amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Regular testing of all players and key staff for Covid-19 will be a crucial plank of any restart plan, and the YEP understands the cost of these tests will be met centrally by the Premier League.

All clubs will be working to the same protocols in terms of training sessions, which will be designed to minimise the risk of infection.

These protocols, informed by Saturday's conference call, will be presented to club executives at the league's next shareholders' meeting on Friday.

Arsenal, Brighton, Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham are already allowing players to return to their training grounds while still respecting social distancing rules.

In the Championship, United's players have been training at home since March 18 with the Whites having acted early on the back of medical advice over the coronavirus outbreak and taking the measures well in advance of Prime Minister Boris Johnson putting the country on lockdown.

The EFL have since written to their clubs via chairman Rick Parry to suggest May 16 as a possible date for players to return to training and Whites striker Patrick Bamford confirmed recently he and the Whites squad were aiming towards that date.

"The letter that the EFL put out said that the earliest we would be allowed back in training was the 16th of May so for me it's head to that date," said Bamford earlier this month.

"It's a case of gearing everything up to be back in on the 16th and then obviously depending on what happens throughout the world and with the virus and stuff, it could get extended, it could change.

"But I think now that we have been given a date, let's head towards it and then deal with whatever happens as we get closer to the time."

The EFL season remains suspended with the nation still on lockdown with strict social distancing measures until at least May 7.

Leeds are top of the Championship and hold a seven-point cushion in the division's automatic promotion places with nine games left.

Both the Premier League and EFL have continually stated their desire to properly conclude the currently suspended season in its proper manner by playing all of the remaining fixtures when it is safe to do so.

The EFL have already alerted their clubs of their intention to play all remaining games within a 56-day time-frame during the summer months on the assumption that those games would be played behind closed doors.

Training wise, in Spain, LaLiga has set out a four-stage phased return building up from individual work to full group sessions before competition resumes.

Clubs have also been told that only approved stadiums can be used, operating to a higher certification than in normal circumstances.

It has been reported that this could mean matches being played at neutral venues, which would lead to questions over the integrity of the competition.

Again, the matter will be discussed further on Friday.

European football's governing body UEFA has asked its member leagues to submit restart plans by May 25, as it begins preparatory work for next season's continental club competitions.

UEFA wants league seasons to be completed where possible, and issued guidelines last week stressing that qualification places should be settled on sporting merit using "objective, transparent and non-discriminatory" criteria.

The Premier League has remained committed throughout the pandemic to finishing the 2019-20 season if at all possible.

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden said on Monday: "I personally have been in talks with the Premier League with a view to getting football up and running as soon as possible in order to support the whole football community.

"But, of course, any such moves would have to be consistent with public health guidance."

The Premier League's medical adviser Mark Gillett, along with the Football Association's head of medicine Charlotte Cowie, is understood to be part of a group of medical officials from sports governing bodies who will meet on a weekly basis with representatives from Public Health England, in talks led by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.

June 8 has been reported as a potential start date for the Premier League while June 6 could also be an option.

English professional football has been suspended since March 13, with the Premier League and the English Football League keeping a restart date under "constant review".