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Real Madrid appear to have successfully secured the appointment of fitness coach Antonio Pintus from Lyon as the Italian oversaw Los Blancos' first preseason training session in Montreal on Monday. Pintus signed a three-year contract with Lyon in early June but Madrid then made their move to secure his services this summer. Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas then said he had spoken to Madrid counterpart Florentino Perez about Pintus, who had already begun preparing the Ligue 1 club for their 2016-17 season, and added: "He [Perez] didn't know that he had just signed for three years with Lyon. He told me that if Antonio wanted to stay at Lyon there was no problem." Madrid have not since officially confirmed any agreement with Lyon over the coach, but the 53-year-old was pictured taking charge of their official first 2016-17 session at Montreal Impact's training ground. Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane, who worked with Pintus at Juventus between 1996 and 1998, is reported to have requested the coach's appointment due to concerns that poor preseason training in recent years had contributed to the club's injury problems. Last summer, Madrid's medical chief Jesus Olmo, who is close to president Florentino Perez, reorganised the club's medical department but there have been regular reports in the Spanish media that the players were unhappy with the changes. Club captain Sergio Ramos admitted during the 2015-16 campaign that the players wanted these issues to be resolved ahead of next season. Pintus, who has previously worked with Marseille, Monaco, Udinese, West Ham, Chelsea, Sunderland and the Russian national team, is currently working with 25 players, including 14 from the first team and 11 youngsters. The group includes Zidane's sons Enzo, a 21-year-old midfielder who featured regularly for Castilla last season, and 18-year-old Luca, one of five goalkeepers to have made the trip. Players including Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, James Rodriguez and Toni Kroos were not present due to their participation in international tournaments this summer. A statement on Madrid's website read: "Real Madrid held the first training session of their Canadian pre-season training camp at Montreal Impact's training ground. "Physical and ball work took centre stage in a session which got underway with warm-up exercises and sit-ups on one of the synthetic pitches. After this, Keylor Navas split off to do specific work, whilst the Whites' players were divided up into four groups in which they jumped over hurdles (both head on and from the side), completed balance and stretching exercises and carried out lateral and front leg raises. "Following on from this, the focus turned to ball work. Whilst [Kiko] Casilla, Ruben Yanez, Alex Craninx and Luca [Zidane] all did specific drills, the outfield players carried out one-touch exercises and possession and pressure drills in a reduced area. To round off a day one session which lasted almost two hours, the players did several circuits around the edge of the four training pitches."
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