Barcelona midfielder Gavi returned to training on Thursday as he edges closer to a return to action after almost 10 months out with a serious knee injury.
Gavi, 20, has not played since tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee while playing for Spain against Georgia in a qualifying match for the European Championship at the end of last year.
A source has told ESPN that no date has been fixed for a possible comeback at this stage, with the next steps dependent on how he responds to a gradual increase in his workload in the coming weeks.
Barça return to action on Sunday against Girona in LaLiga before kicking off their Champions League campaign against Monaco next Thursday, with a gruelling two month period ending with games against Bayern Munich and Real Madrid at the end of October.
Regardless of when Gavi is back playing, his involvement in Thursday’s session represented a huge step forward in his recovery, with his teammates celebrating his return by giving him a guard of honour.
Gavi made his first team debut for Barça as a 16-year-old and had made 111 appearances for the club when the injury forced him to stop last November.
After undergoing surgery in Barcelona, he missed the rest of the season with his club and also sat out the European Championship in Germany, where he was a special guest at the final as Spain beat England to win the trophy.
His eventual return to the first team will come as a huge boost to head coach Hansi Flick, who has been left short on midfield options in the early weeks of the campaign.
In addition to Gavi, Frenkie de Jong is also out with an ongoing ankle issue, Fermín López was injured during the international break and Marc Bernal‘s season was ended by an ACL injury in the third game of the campaign against Rayo Vallecano.
Andreas Christensen, a centre-back who played in midfield last season, is also out injured, while Oriol Romeu and Ilkay Gündogan both left the club in the summer.
Elsewhere, Ansu Fati is closing in on a return to competitive action after coming through training this week without any problems.
The forward, who spent last season on loan at Brighton in the Premier League, could be involved against Girona on Sunday in LaLiga.