Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Gelson Fernandes has said he believes the Bundesliga will be ready to return in late May.
The Bundesliga has been sidelined since March 13 as the coronavirus pandemic has halted football all across Europe, but the German top flight appears closer to a return than almost any other league.
Every Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga side returned to the training field this week, and Bundesliga CEO Christian Seifert revealed that the top two divisions in Germany are hoping to return to the field by early May, completing the remaining nine matches in their schedule by the end of June.
Fernandes has said that timeframe may be slightly optimistic, but he does believe that the Bundesliga will return by late May.
"When we come back, it will be behind closed doors," Fernandes told the BBC.
Next Match
"I think that will be in late May. It's impossible to think that in June, July, August, we'd be playing in front of 50,000 people. That would be wrong," the former Manchester City midfielder continued.
The 33-year-old has said he feels fortunate to be back on the training field, though clubs are following social distancing guidelines and only working on shooting and passing drills.
"It's nice to be on the pitch but we are being careful - washing hands and everything - and we feel lucky, that's the only way we can keep doing our jobs," Fernandes said.
"Physically when I was on my own we had to do a lot of bike work and I didn't lose much fitness. We are now training but it's not the same as matches."
Bundesliga sides quickly returning to the training field is due in large part to Germany's success in fighting the virus. The country has tested a large number of its citizens for Covid-19 and kept the fatality rate lower than most comparable countries.
"In Germany, if you look at discussions about coming back in May, that's probably a direct result of some very clear thinking from their government because they're doing 50,000 tests a day," Richard Bevin, chief executive of the League Managers' Association, said on Friday.
"In this country (England) we're doing 10,000 per day."