Wales midfielder Aaron Ramsey expects he may miss the start of Arsenal's Barclays Premier League campaign as he recovers from his Euro 2016 exertions.
Ramsey was suspended for Wednesday night's semi-final defeat by Portugal in Lyon, which brought an end to the fine run from Chris Coleman's squad at the tournament.
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger prefers to give players who have been away on international duty during the summer a four-week break, and Ramsey is not now scheduled to return to London Colney until August 1.
The Gunners open the 2016-17 Barclays Premier League campaign at home to Liverpool on August 14, and Ramsey admits that game might just come too soon for him.
"I am back on 1 August, so I have a few weeks off but, obviously, it kicks off a couple of weeks afterwards," Ramsey said, quoted in the London Evening Standard.
"A few years ago, Germany won the World Cup and the German players came in just a few days before the first game of the season, but they missed that. He [Wenger] does like to give players a little break and I'll be getting the same treatment. I feel I need a few weeks off now."
Wales fans will get the chance to welcome home Coleman's Euro 2016 squad with a special event in Cardiff on Friday, which will include an open-top bus parade around the city and a performance by band Manic Street Preachers.
Ramsey, 25, believes Wales can head into the 2018 World Cup campaign with confidence.
"We can be proud of what we have achieved and I still think there is more to come from us," he added.
"Hopefully we can keep building on this now. We have beaten some really good teams in this competition now and we have proved we are more than capable of standing up for ourselves and being counting.
"If we said before the tournament that Wales were going to get to the semi-finals, a lot of people would have laughed at that but we have achieved it and hopefully we can keep building."
Source: PA-WIRE
