Barcelona's Vermaelen returns to training

Thomas Vermaelen trained with his Barcelona teammates Wednesday for the first time since undergoing surgery on his damaged hamstring in November.

The team announced that the Belgian defender, who signed with the Catalan team in the summer from Arsenal, joined teammates for a portion of the workout session. Vermaelen spent several months on the sidelines recovering from the procedure to fix the hamstring injury he suffered at the World Cup in Brazil.

Although numerous reports suggested he would miss the season, Vermaelen confirmed last week that he hopes to make his debut in April.