Manchester United legend Paul Scholes has predicted that the Premier League will be underway once again by mid-June.

The UK Government says it will permit sporting events behind close doors after June 1st, and Scholes thinks that teams will need at least a couple of weeks of training before restarting the season:

“People are trying to stick to guidelines and the guidelines are that there’ll be no professional football until June 1. So I think if we are going to stick to the guidelines we should try and get as close to that as we possibly can.”

“Players these days are so fit – they are like machines half of them – so I think they only need two weeks of full training to get back into it and hopefully by June 10, 11 or 12, they should be ready to go.”

There have been some concerns that positive COVID-19 tests for players could lead to the league being suspended again but Scholes says he is confident that domestic competitions will be completed once they resume:

“I think domestically, we can get the league done, the FA Cup done. I think it is going to be very difficult for European competition with the Champions League and Europa League. I think it’s going to be difficult to get that done.”

“But, I think domestically, we can get the season done in five or six weeks, have a break and then get into next season as well.”

A lot has to happen before the Premier League gets underway once again. An agreement between clubs will need to be reached over whether matches are played at home or neutral venues.

On top of that, players will need to be convinced that it is safe to return to training as well as playing games. With the Bundesliga returning this weekend, all eyes will be on Germany to see whether the same principles can be applied in England, and if they can, Scholes’s prediction may well prove to be accurate.