The 29-year-old Akanji joked: I might retire when I’m 30

Speaking of the increasingly crowded schedule, Manchester City defender Akanji, 29, quipped: "I might retire when I'm 30."

Of the packed schedule, Akanji said: "It's too hard.

You don't just think about this season, you have to think about next season. Let's say we win the league or cup and then get to the Club World Cup final; the Community Shield is in three weeks. So when do we have a holiday?

There's no break in the winter, so if we're lucky, we might have two weeks off and then we have to come back to prepare for next season.

Then the next summer is the World Cup, there's no end at all."

Akanji's comments have resonated with England's Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), which is threatening legal action against FIFA for refusing to negotiate over the Club World Cup.

The Premier League has also joined the legal action, with the general belief in private that FIFA wants Europe's major domestic leagues to be reduced to a unified 18 teams.

Akanji continued: "It's game after game, I don't know what the next few years will be like.

You can't just keep adding games and thinking everything will be the same as before, you have to think about the players too.

At a certain point you are too tired to play anymore.

Then injuries will definitely come. We train really hard and we are fit - but there has to be a limit.

I'll probably retire when I'm 30!"