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MANCHESTER: Five players from Manchester City’s first team have tested positive for COVID-19 and will not participate when they play Chelsea in the Premier League this weekend, manager Pep Guardiola said on Friday (January 1).
An increase in infections at City among players and staff forced the club to submit a request to the Premier League to postpone Monday’s game at Everton. City also closed their training ground as a precaution.
The club said last week that forward Gabriel Jesus and defender Kyle Walker had tested positive, but Guardiola declined to release the names of the other “three important players” who would not be available for Sunday’s clash.
“I don’t think the Premier League will allow us to name the players, but they will find out tomorrow,” Guardiola told reporters.
“We had enough players to play Everton, we wanted to play but, on match day, with more cases we reported to the Premier League and I personally called (Everton coach) Carlo Ancelotti to explain the situation.
“The day before we were in contact about what would happen and the great risk … But now the training center is disinfected and hopefully in the next tests all are negative and the people who are positive can return without problems.”
City returned to training on Wednesday after a deep clean, but Guardiola said they had their problems while preparing for Chelsea.
“You are less in contact. The players are no longer in the locker room, they only train on the court,” Guardiola added.
“It is what it is. We have a good enough roster to go there and try to compete against a tough opponent in Chelsea. We are going to play our game with enthusiasm and good will to try to put in a good performance.
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard also reported two positive cases at his camp, but said they were not players.
