Two injured Barcelona stars rejoin group training during England pre-season camp | OneFootball

Barcelona received a major fitness boost on their first full day at St George’s Park. Hansi Flick and a group of players travelled to England to continue pre-season preparations.

Now, the club have officially confirmed that both Fermin Lopez and Ronald Araujo returned to group training during the club’s pre-season camp in England.

The pair took part in Monday’s session alongside the rest of Hansi Flick’s squad after recent injury setbacks had kept them away from full team activities.

Fermin and Araujo step up recovery

While it remains unclear whether either player will feature in Barcelona’s scheduled matches in England, their progress is understood to be encouraging.

Fermin has been working his way back after suffering an injury in Barcelona’s penultimate La Liga match last season, a setback that also ruled him out of the World Cup.

Araujo’s situation has been slightly different. Although Barcelona have not officially listed him as injured, the defender did not play for Uruguay at the World Cup and has been following an individual programme during pre-season as a precaution.

Their return to training with the group marks another important milestone as they continue building fitness ahead of the new campaign.

A timely boost for Flick

The timing could hardly be better for Barcelona.

Flick has already had to manage Frenkie de Jong’s absence in midfield, and having experienced players like Araujo and Fermin moving closer to full availability gives him more options as pre-season intensifies.

Even if neither is rushed back into match action, returning to group training definitely indicates that they are close.

Barça have only just settled into their training base in England, with Tuesday set to include two training sessions as preparations continue.

Flick will be keen to work more on tactics and experiment with the ideas he has during pre-season, and the next few games will provide a clearer picture.

It remains to be seen when Fermin and Araujo get minutes during this England tour, and Barça will hope that the rest of the squad can also remain injury-free through the course of pre-season.