Barcelona defender and French international Eric Abidal will be hospitalised for up to four days for checks on his kidney transplant, the Spanish club said Wednesday.

"Eric Abidal will spend between three and four days at Hospital Clinic in Barcelona for examinations of the development of the transplant that he underwent last April," the team said in a statement online.

"By express wish of the player, the club is asking for the utmost respect for his privacy and confidentiality."

The 33-year-old player returned to training with his Barcelona team-mates in December after getting the all-clear from doctors.

He had a liver transplant operation on April 10, 2012, just over a year after a tumour was removed from the organ.

Transplant specialists at the time questioned whether Abidal would be able to make a return to top-flight football, given the potential risk of damage to the new kidney.

The club said last week that Abidal was expected to register with the Spanish football federation by the end of this month as a final formality before being allowed to play.