Barcelona midfielder Arturo Vidal has responded after speculation suggested that he had suffered an injury setback in relation to his problematic knee.
As per The Express, it was suggested that the 29-year-old had suffered the issue while on international duty with Chile and in turn he would miss the clash with Japan.
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Vidal sustained a serious knee injury last season while with Bayern Munich, and so any further risk of damage will be a concern for Barca who will hope to keep him fit throughout the season to play an important role in Ernesto Valverde’s midfield plans.
The Chilean international has now spoken out on the speculation, and has seemingly dismissed any reason for concern by insisting that he has been training as planned.
“I heard many things and they are all lies,” he is quoted as saying by Mundo Deportivo. “It’s nothing. I left before training to get ready for the trip, I went to the gym and went on the bike, but I did all the normal session.”
It’s suggested that precautions may well still be taken by Chile as Vidal is expected to play just 45 minutes against South Korea on Tuesday after the friendly with Japan was cancelled after an earthquake in Hokkaido.
In turn, that should give us a glimpse as to whether or not Vidal is indeed carrying a knock or if he has a clean bill of health as he insists.
Either way, Barcelona will surely now be keeping a close eye on the matter as the last thing that they’ll want is to be without their star midfield ace when the domestic campaign resumes as they take on Real Sociedad on September 15.