Santos return to training as quartet told to find new clubs | OneFootball

After a 21-day break, Santos returned to training on Monday at CT Rei Pelé without Zé Ivaldo, Mayke, Zé Rafael and Tomás Rincón. The quartet have been told they are no longer in the club's plans and can seek new teams. According to Globo.com, they may use the facility to keep fit while futures are resolved.

Since late May, Zé Rafael had requested to work away from the main group. He was not named in Cuca's squads before the pause for the World Cup.

Of the others, Mayke saw more minutes but struggled and was booed in May's defeat to Coritiba in the Brasileiro, then substituted late in the first half. Zé Ivaldo last played on 5 April in the loss to Flamengo, while Rincón's most recent outing was the 25 April draw with Bahia.

On return, the squad underwent medical, physical and physiological assessments, split into groups, with some conditioning on the pitch. Testing finishes on Tuesday.

Midfielders João Schmidt and Gabriel Menino, and attacking midfielder Thaciano, are over muscle issues and began pitch-based transition work. Players were split into seven subgroups of four to complete evaluations and training will build up gradually after more than two weeks off, repeating start-of-year tests.

The interseason should aid conditioning after first-half injuries, which were linked to the Paulista starting early for the World Cup and only eight days of pre-season. The run-in stays tight, with average gaps of three to six days between games.

Source: Globo.com