Mario Gotze is set to resume Borussia Dortmund team training when the Bundesliga club begin their winter camp in Spain on Wednesday.
Winger Marco Reus is also nearing his comeback from injury, as attacker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang joins the rest of his teammates on Friday, after attending the Confederation of African Football’s Player of the Year award ceremony in Ghana.
Aubameyang was the only player absent when the players boarded the flight to Spain on Wednesday morning for their short training camp in Marbella.
New Dortmund boss Peter Stoger, who has overseen a revival after two winless months under predecessor Peter Bosz, welcomes back several injured players, with midfielders Gotze and Gonzalo Castro and full-backs Lukasz Piszczek and Erik Durm potentially available when BVB take on Wolfsburg on Jan. 14.
Reus, though, is not yet ready to resume full team training following his anterior cruciate ligament surgery in June. Reports in Germany suggest he could return to action next month.
Dortmund are currently third in the Bundesliga, trailing second-placed Schalke by two points, but they have only have a five-point cushion on 11th-placed Hannover.
In February, they face Serie A side Atalanta for a place in the Europa League round of 16.
Stephan Uersfeld is the Germany correspondent for ESPN FC. Follow him on Twitter @uersfeld.