Mats Hummels back on the training ground as he moves a step closer to his comeback

Mats Hummels returned to the training ground on Thursday and trained individually. The Borussia Dortmund centre-back is inching closer to his comeback from injury. 

Mats Hummels has been struggling with a patellar tendon issue that also affected him during the European Championships. There has been a lot of uncertainty surrounding his injury in recent weeks. But he took a big step on his road to recovery on Thursday by completing an individual training unit with the ball under the guidance of athletic trainer Florian Wangler.

It remains to be seen when Hummels will be able to train with the team again. But his return to the training pitch is a big boost for Borussia Dortmund. The 32 year old is one of the Black and Yellows’ most important players, and the hope will be that he can return to action as soon as possible.

Hummels will definitely miss this weekend’s Bundesliga opener against Eintracht Frankfurt. And it is also highly unlikely that he will be fit in time for next week’s DFL-Supercup clash against Bayern Munich.

Manuel Akanji will lead the Borussia Dortmund defence in Hummels’ absence. Although it remains to be seen who will line up alongside him at centre-back. Antonios Papadopoulos started in the DFB-Pokal first round tie against SV Wehen Wiesbaden. But Emre Can is now back in training after recovering from his muscle injury. And the German international could be an option for this weekend.

In addition to Hummels, Raphael Guerreiro, Dan-Axel Zagadou, Soumaila Coulibaly, Nnamdi Collins, Thomas Meunier, Julian Brandt, Mateu Morey and Marius Wolf will also miss this weekend’s game.