‘The hardest thing is going to be to educate the players’: Mikel Arteta warns Premier League stars will struggle to follow coronavirus rules as Arsenal manager prepares for return

• Premier League clubs are hopeful they will return to training on May 18
• Players will be expected to social distance but there have been breaches
• Mikel Arteta spoke of educating stars about the importance of social distancing
• Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19

Mikel Arteta has insisted it will be hard to convince Premier League players of the need to follow the coronavirus rules.

Arsenal have already welcomed players back to their training ground for individual training and the rest of the top flight will be ordering stars to social distance when they return to training.

It is hoped that they will be back holding sessions on May 18.

Mikel Arteta has warned it will be tough to make stars follow the coronavirus rules

And Arteta admits it will require ‘education’ to make sure they follow the rules when they do make a full return. 

The Gunners boss warned: ‘We have to be very strict with the protocols.

‘The hardest thing is going to be to educate the players and everybody involved at the training ground and on match days that this is different.’

Four of Arteta’s players – Nicolas Pepe, David Luiz, Alexandre Lacazette and David Luiz – flaunted the rules two weeks ago. 

Arsenal’s players have returned to individual training at their London Colney base

Meanwhile, former Chelsea man Salomon Kalou was suspended after ignoring training ground rules at Hertha Berlin in Germany as that league looks to resume in the coming weeks.

Arteta added: ‘Common sense will dictate the next step. We cannot rush it.

‘We need to play, we are willing to play – it is important for us and society and for the economy. We have that responsibility.’

The 38-year-old also discussed how his players had taken to returning to training and the rules they had been following at their London Colney base.

Arteta also explained the way in which Arsenal had been following the rules at training

He revealed: ‘The players have to arrive five minutes before the session in their own car, with their own clothes, ball, water, boots and protein bar for after.

‘They don’t touch each other – they don’t even look at each other.

‘There is one player per pitch – nothing else — and they finish after an hour.

‘It is safer than the park, it is our grass to protect them from injuries. In the park, sometimes with five kids chasing them, it’s not the right environment.’

Arteta was the first big name in English football to test positive for coronavirus back on March 12 and said: ‘I passed into on my missus. It took me a week or to recover so but I’ve been lucky, it didn’t hit me that hard. Thank god I didn’t pass it onto any of the staff or players.’ 

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