Manchester United could lose Bruno Fernandes, Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba to self-isolation after superstar Cristiano Ronaldo tested positive for Covid-19 whilst on international duty with Portugal.
A Bola stress that Fernandes is one of 10 Portugal players that play in the Premier League that may be forced to self-isolate after the Ronaldo news.
To make matters worse the players in question may not simply be cleared after returning more than one negative test, as mainland Portugal is not currently on the UK’s list of ‘low risk’ countries – which would grant a possible exemption to quarantine for athletes.
With Ronaldo contracting the virus less than 48 hours after Portugal drew against France, it remains to be seen what the stance will be on the likes Anthony Martial and Paul Pogba.
Pogba played the entire 90 minutes, even sharing a picture of himself challenging Ronaldo for the ball on a couple of occasions (now deleted), whilst Martial shook the all-time great’s hand.
If Bruno, Martial & Pogba are tested positive for COVID as a result of playing along-side Ronaldo, Man United may as well write off this season now.
And on saying that, I hope and pray that Ronaldo recoveres soon and no one else is / gets affected by the virus. pic.twitter.com/cX6YVaZlQK
— ?™ (@TheFergusonCode) October 13, 2020
Kieran Tierney was forced to self-isolate for 14 days after apparently coming into close contact with a Scotland teammate who tested positive for Covid-19, with Arsenal disputing this.
We’ll only know how these players will be affected after the Premier League and relevant Government bodies make an announcement, fans will have to sit tight until then.
With pictures like the above showing the close contact the likes of Fernandes, Pogba and Martial have had with Ronaldo, it could be incredibly dangerous for the trio to be allowed to train as usual – let alone play – even if they record more than one negative test result upon their returns.
The Champions League will return days after the return of Premier League action, so top clubs could be massively impacted if they have to miss key players for a period of 14 days.