FORMER Premier League stars Marko Arnautovic and Paulinho have been locked out of China due to the coronavirus pandemic.
And ex-Chelsea star Oscar and his fellow Brazil ace Hulk made it back in with just 11 minutes to spare, according to reports.
The Chinese government enforced a temporary travel ban on foreign nationals entering the country late last Thursday.
That resulted in some 30 players and coaches being unable to return to work, say the Daily Mail.
But Shanghai SIPG stars Oscar, Hulk and Ricardo Lopes landed in their private jet at 11.49pm – just before the cut off point.
They are now said to be in quarantine for two weeks ahead of the Chinese Super League eventually restarting.
But their fellow Brazilian and ex-Spurs star Paulinho, along with former West Ham ace Arnautovic, reportedly left it too late to go back.
The CSL was due to start on February 22, but has been postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Now, with China being the start point of the killer bug sweeping the world, the proposed start date has been pushed back time and again.
April 18 was looked at first of all but now May 2 has been touted as a possible resumption date.
It remains up in the air, though, especially after ex-Manchester United star Marouane Fellaini became the first top-flight footballer in China to test positive for coronavirus.
The Shandong Luneng ace insisted he was feeling “fine” while in hospital recovering from the respiratory virus.
Despite this, some clubs have since returned to training with an eye to playing again.
But with a number of high-profile players unable to enter the country, an imminent resumption of the season seems unlikely.
