What club teams are doing during long international break: Training breaks, friendly games and more

With a longer international break in late September and October, Premier League and other clubs are preparing for weeks where many players remain with their teams while national squads play up to four matches. FIFA has combined the usual 12-day September and October windows into a three-week club pause to allow extended national-team camps. The Sporting News looks at what clubs are doing during that gap: managers and players who aren’t called up often keep training, sometimes giving a first-week break, then returning in the final week of September. At Manchester United and Brentford, reports suggest time off before sessions resume, while some players stay to work on fitness or recover from injuries.