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Inter Miami players resume training as club eyes Real Madrid’s James

Miami, May 6 (efe-epa).- Inter Miami players returned to the club’s practice facility Wednesday for the first time since Major League Soccer suspended its season on March 12 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the scene was hardly one of business-as-usual.

The “voluntary individual workouts” at the Inter Miami CF Training Complex in Fort Lauderdale adhered to safety protocols developed with input from infectious disease experts and medical professionals.

“The players used the Club’s outdoor fields, divided into a maximum of four quadrants per field. A maximum of one player per quadrant was allowed to participate per training session with no equipment sharing or playing (passing, shooting) between players,” Inter Miami said in a press release.

“Players were required to use personal protective equipment from the parking lot to the field, and again on return to the parking, and staff was required to use the appropriate personal protective equipment throughout training, while also maintaining a minimum distance of 10 feet from players at all times.”

The soonest MLS will allow group workouts is May 15 and there is still no date set for resuming the season.

But Inter executives remain in pursuit of the two additional “significant players” sporting director Paul McDonough says he had hoped to sign before the club’s inaugural season was disrupted by the coronavirus.

Goal reported that Inter Miami owner David Beckham has reached out to Real Madrid president Florentino Perez to discuss the possible acquisition of midfielder James Rodriguez.

McDonough declined to confirm or deny that Inter is looking at signing the Colombian international, though he acknowledging the club wants to add a big name to the roster.

“We get linked with a lot of players. A lot of players want to come here, which is great. But I think it’s more than just getting big-name players. They have to have to want to come here for the right reason,” he told the OnSide podcast.

“When I’m with a club, I don’t think about one year but three or four years. When I’m with a club, I don’t want to hamstring the club with a world-class player now and we may not appreciate his contract in three or four years,” McDonough said.

James, 28, joined Real Madrid in 2014 and has scored 29 goals in 84 appearances for the Blancos. He spent the 2017-2018 and 2018-2019 seasons on loan with Bayern Munich, contributing 14 goals in 43 matches. EFE

jip/dr

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