MANCHESTER UNITED’S new signing Odion Ighalo will not attend the club’s winter training camp in Spain over fears he will be barred from returning to the UK over the coronavirus threat.
The club are concerned UK immigration could tighten border restrictions after the World Health Organisation upgraded the disease to a global emergency.
Odion Ighalo has been stopped from travelling to Spain for Manchester United’s training camp
Ighalo joined United last week from Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua on loan until the end of the season.
Border control is monitoring all persons who have arrived from China in the last 14 days.
The 30-year-old, who is currently in Manchester, will stay in England “on a personal training and fitness programme”.
United said that “it is simply a precautionary measure as the situation continues to be monitored”.
Boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told the club website: “Odion will stay in Manchester, because he arrived from China in the last 14 days.
“Because of the situation in China, we’re not sure if he’d be allowed back into England if he leaves the country again.
“So he’s staying here working with a personal coach, individual programme and his family then can settle in England as well. That’s a plus.
“Of course he might have liked to have come with the players and got to know them, but the risk [of potential border restrictions tightening], we don’t want to take that.”
The decision is a huge blow to Manchester United, who signed Ighalo with a view to him making an immediate impact.
It now means he will have very limited time to train alongside his new team-mates.
But the former Watford striker’s desire to get up to speed is not in doubt, with it emerging he’s been training with a taekwondo coach.
CORONAVIRUS IS IN THE UK
Coronavirus, which started in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has so far killed more than 700 people.
In spite of efforts to contain the virus, it has gone international.
There have been 28,368 cases confirmed so far.
Tens of thousands have contracted the virus across 28 countries, including three in the UK.
The virus attacks the respiratory system, causing pneumonia-like lung lesions.
Some of the virus types cause less serious disease, while others – like the one that caused Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) – are far more severe.
In 2003 an outbreak of a similar virus, Sars, killed more than 900 around the world within weeks.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
