A FIFPRO report has determined that footballers at the top level are under increasing “mental stress” due to fixture workload.
It pointed to Erling Haaland’s “machine-like” start to the season with Manchester City as proof that there is the need for a prolonged period of rest.
Haaland has scored seven times already in three fixtures for the Premier League champions, including back-to-back hat-tricks.
The 24-year-old enjoyed a full summer break due to Norway’s absence at Euro 2024.
On the flip side, Haaland’s City team-mate, Phil Foden and Jude Bellingham of Real Madrid have already missed matches this season through injury or fatigue this season after they played in the Euro 2024 final on July 14.
Haaland, Bellingham and Foden are all set to feature in the FIFA Club World Cup at the end of this season, which will make it the longest club season in history.
The FIFPRO study has claimed elite footballers now have as little as 12% of the calendar year off duty, which is less than one a day a week.
Maheta Molango, the CEO of England’s Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA), said: “For us in England, we have a very clear example in Erling Haaland.
“It was very nice to go to a dressing room and hear someone [Haaland] say to you: ‘I was missing being back, I was missing being able to train again and I’m pumped up, I’m motivated, I’m here.’
“That was in preseason and now you see the results. I mean he’s being back to the machine that we saw when he first joined us in England and I think it’s probably something very similar to Mohamed Salah — he also had the proper rest and you can see that he is again the best version of Mo.”
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