Sebastien Haller never feared he would be forced to retire and wants to return to action "as quickly as possible".
The Ivory Coast striker joined Borussia Dortmund from Ajax ahead of this season but is yet to feature for the Bundesliga side after discovering a malignant tumour during pre-season testing in July.
Haller underwent two surgeries and chemotherapy, with Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke stating the striker could return after the mid-season break.
The 28-year-old was present as Dortmund returned to training for the first time after the World Cup last week, although he was being "carefully introduced".
In comments to the media on Monday, Haller said: "I want to play as quickly as possible. There are no limits and restrictions on my involvement unless the medical staff tell me otherwise.
"[Returning is the] best feeling I could have. I didn't know what the future will bring, but I focused every day on staying fit.
"I can do everything now that I used to do before; that gives me great confidence.
"I took only 19 days off in the six months. It was hard, but it's my job and I love it."
Haller – who scored 34 goals in 43 games for Ajax last season before joining Dortmund for a reported €34.5million fee – also said he had never had concerns about his career coming to a premature end.
"[Retiring] was never on my mind," he said. "I had the mindset of looking forward and taking every day at a time. It was harder for my family, they suffered a lot because they didn't feel in control. They helped me a lot."
Also speaking at a press conference, Haller's Dortmund team-mate Marco Reus was delighted they could welcome the striker back into the fold ahead of the resumption of the Bundesliga season later this month.
"You can probably tell by my laughter, but it gives me goosebumps that he's back on the field," Reus told reporters. "I don't think he needs to say much at all, we were just so happy to have him back.
"I think we all took our hats off to the fight he put up and, above all, that he came back with a strength, with a mental strength that's really strong, and you can see it every day.
"He trains with us all the way; of course, he has a bit of catching up to do, but he pulls it off completely, and it's just a lot of fun to be back on the pitch with him, because of course he gives us a new alternative in the long run, which we perhaps don't have in our game yet.
"And that's why we're all doing well to stay calm, of course, and just give him a little bit of time until he finds his rhythm. That's going to take a little bit of time, but first and foremost just being healthy and playing what he feels most like playing."
On his own future, Reus also addressed recent rumours he will link up with Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr in Saudi Arabia at the end of the season when his contract at Dortmund expires.
"I have a consultant to sort these things out," he said. "For me, it's just important that I stay in good health, that I do the complete training camp, do the games, and the rest you'll just really see in the future. But as I said, I have my advisor for that.
"Of course, you look ahead. And of course, I still have half a year left on my contract, and if I didn't worry about that, then it would be wrong.
"But actually, right now, I'm just happy to be back on the pitch and to be with the team. I mean, we are in sixth place and we really have other things to do right now. And that's where the focus is right now.
"Everything else will simply be decided in the next few weeks and months, and then we'll see in which direction it goes."
St. Louis City v LA Galaxy: Reus sets sights on silverware after dream start
Marco Reus is desperate to bring silverware to the LA Galaxy after making a flying start to his time in MLS, with St. Louis City the destination for his first road game on Sunday.
Reus registered a goal and an assist on debut last week as the Galaxy beat Atlanta United 2-0, maintaining their grip on top spot in the Western Conference.
The Galaxy are five points clear of local rivals Los Angeles FC at the top of the standings ahead of Sunday's trip to St. Louis, who are 13th and 10 points adrift of the playoff picture.
Reus' arrival in Los Angeles has caused plenty of fanfare, but he is focused solely on the team's collective aims.
"It's not about me, it's about the team," he said. "We want to be champions. So we take it game by game.
"Besides the traffic, it's really amazing. The people are so friendly. The weather, it's really nice. When you wake up in the morning and the sun is shining, you start the day differently.
"So I'm really, really happy every morning I come into the dressing room. I'm just happy and excited."
St. Louis played out a thrilling 4-4 draw with the Portland Timbers last week, twice throwing away a two-goal lead to leave interim coach John Hackworth bewildered.
"Really don't know what to say," Hackworth said. "It's hard to imagine coming to a place like this and scoring four goals, being up, and then just losing one-versus-one defensive battles.
"Sometimes, the number of goals you give up, or the number of goals you score, can hide a lot of the transition moments.
"An easy way to prevent some of these defensive miscues from happening is to just be better with the ball."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
St. Louis City – Eduard Lowen
Lowen scored his fourth goal of the MLS season last time out, converting from the penalty spot as St. Louis drew 4-4 with the Timbers.
Only Joao Klauss, with five goals, has outscored him for St. Louis this term.
LA Galaxy – Marco Reus
Reus is one of 20 players in MLS history to record a goal and an assist on his regular-season debut.
He is also the fifth Galaxy player to do so, after Steven Gerrard, Andreas Herzog, Giovani dos Santos and Sasha Victorine. No other team have had more than two players achieve the feat.
MATCH PREDICTION – DRAW
The Galaxy have won 10 of their last 13 regular-season matches, the first time they have done so in a single season since 2011. LA have not recorded 11 wins in a span of 14 matches within a single regular season in the post-shootout era (since 2000).
It would be no surprise to see the points shared in this one, though. All three meetings between St. Louis and the Galaxy have ended level, all with different scorelines (1-1, 2-2, 3-3).
St. Louis have only won one of the last six matches in which they have held the lead in regular-season play dating back to the beginning of June (four draws, one defeat).
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
St. Louis City – 35.8%
LA Galaxy – 38.1%
Draw – 26.1%
Raphinha hails Barcelona after statement win over Valladolid
Barcelona forward Raphinha believes the team have laid down a statement of their intent by starting the season with four straight wins in LaLiga.
Raphinha scored the first hat-trick of his career and also delivered two assists on Saturday, as Barca crushed Real Valladolid 7-0 at Camp Nou.
Hansi Flick's side already possess a four-point cushion at the top of the table after also recording victories over Valencia, Athletic Bilbao and Rayo Vallecano.
Raphinha believes their results have demonstrated the club got things right in the transfer market, telling Movistar: "Today's game has shown that there is no need for anyone else to come. We are very happy because of that.
"We are in very good shape. The team is working hard. Today's result shows what we are working for.
"We saw that the coach was on the sidelines asking for more goals and that's our mentality.
"We are hungry and want to score as many goals as we can. When we are dominant like we have been, the best way to respect our rivals is not taking the foot off the gas."
Raphinha was one of the players who faced criticism during Barca's trophyless 2023-24 campaign and was rumoured to be on his way out ahead of the new season.
The Blaugrana again battled financial restrictions throughout the window, allowing Ilkay Gundogan to leave in order to secure the registration of new arrival Dani Olmo.
With his future now certain, Raphinha is keen to nail down a starting spot and contribute on a regular basis.
"I don't know if today's was my best game, but it's certainly among my best. I will try to play even better and as much as I can," the Brazilian said.
"I'm very happy to be able to help the team. I feel good. I knew that this season would be very important for me. I'm looking for my best version to help my team-mates and be more confident."
Lazio 2-2 Milan: Leao salvages draw but Rossoneri still winless
Rafael Leao came off the bench to earn Milan a 2-2 draw with Lazio at the Stadio Olimpico on Saturday, but Paulo Fonseca's side are still without a Serie A win this season.
Milan were in front at the break through Strahinja Pavlovic's eighth-minute goal, the Serbian rising highest to power home a header from Christian Pulisic's corner.
However, Lazio hit back in the second half with Valentin Castellanos and Boulaye Dia scoring in quick succession.
Nuno Tavares' first-time ball into the centre was met by the unmarked Castellanos to level in the 62nd minute, then Dia tapped another Tavares cutback home to put the Biancocelesti ahead four minutes later.
Fonseca reacted by sending on four substitutes, and those changes had a swift impact as three of them combined for the leveller.
Theo Hernandez – who joined Leao in being dropped from the start – picked out Tammy Abraham, and his lay-off allowed Leao to escape Tavares to fire past Ivan Provedel.
The game was preceded by an emotional tribute to the man who led Lazio to their last league title, Sven-Goran Eriksson, who died at the age of 76 on Monday.
A Lazio shirt bearing the Swede's name was displayed on the home bench, while a banner held up by the home fans read: "You brought us to the top of the world... Have a good trip Mr. Sven."
Data Debrief: Milan's slow start continues
New Milan boss Fonseca is already under pressure after overseeing a return of two points from his first three league games at the helm.
It is the first time the Rossoneri have drawn two of their opening three matches in a Serie A season since 2011-12, when they also drew two and lost one,
They went on to finish second that season, just four points adrift of champions Juventus. If a title challenge is to take place this term, rapid improvements are needed.
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