ARSENAL’S preparations for the resumption of the Premier League season were reportedly thrown into case when one player tested positive for coronavirus.
According to The Athletic, two other people “came in close contact” to the infected individual.
That meant, going by the government guidance, the player would have to self-isolate for seven days.
But the two individuals who had been in contact with the player would have to quarantine for 14 days.
The club reportedly held their own testing for the unnamed star and both came back negative, therefore believing the first test was a ‘false positive’.
But “the in-house process is not approved by the Premier League” meaning that the Gunners had to wait for the next round of official testing.
That came just two days before Arsenal’s game against Manchester City – and the player provided a negative test for infection.
The three players missed a total of four days training during the process, only returning for sessions the day before the City game.
And it is being reported that the trio all featured in the 3-0 defeat to Pep Guardiola’s title-chasers.
Boss Mikel Arteta tested positive for coronavirus back in March following the postponement of the Manchester City game.
That put the whole first-team squad, coaches and support staff into isolation.
The 37-year-old revealed he started to feel unwell shortly after his side’s Europa League game with Olympiacos.
The Greek club’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, later tested positive for the killer bug – sparking a panic amongst a host of clubs, including Nottingham Forest.
After that, Arteta revealed everything happened “very quickly” and it took a while for him to fully recover having tested positive for Covid-19.
Arteta admitted to feeling “unwell for three or four days” and admitted it all “happened very fast”.
More to follow…
