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Naby Keita is one of five players on the Guinea national team who tested positive for COVID-19, according to reports in the home country of the Liverpool midfielder.
Keita was absent when Guinea sealed a 2-1 win over Cape Verde in their first of two friendlies in Portugal this month, although it was initially claimed he was on the bench.
However, this remained unconfirmed, and no details on the victory were released other than those that started on the side of Didier Six and the scorers.
Now, however, it has emerged that Keita and four of his teammates tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday and have been in quarantine ever since.
Foot224, a trusted source when it comes to Guinean football, claims Keita underwent tests on Wednesday, and the results were released on Friday, before a secondary test confirmed his case on Sunday.
Keita was joined by Francois Kamano, Ibrahima Kone, Ibrahima Camara and Florentin Pogba in positive tests, and follows his Liverpool teammates Kostas Tsimikas, Thiago, Sadio Mane and Xherdan Shaqiri in transmitting the virus.
Tsimikas has recovered after testing positive in September, while Thiago is now out of quarantine and Shaqiri’s test ultimately returned a ‘false positive’, allowing him to play for Switzerland in their 1-0 loss to Spain on Saturday.
Mane remains isolated, but has continued training at home ahead of the Merseyside derby on October 17, in which both he and Thiago could start.
However, if Foot224 is to be believed, Keita will be unavailable and will also miss the first Champions League game against Ajax on October 21 and depending on the extent of his case, possibly more games for the Reds.
It comes at a disappointing time for No. 8, after starting six straight Premier League games for the first time since joining Liverpool in 2018.
What is more concerning, however, is that it further highlights the risk of continuing international soccer this month despite an ongoing global pandemic.
Liverpool were not even asked to release Keita for Guinea’s clashes with Cape Verde and Gambia as they were friendly, and the Guinea Football Federation should not possibly have organized them in the first place.
There have been more problems for the Reds within the national teams of Scotland and the Republic of Ireland, although both Andy Robertson and Caoimhin Kelleher tested negative.
Harvey Elliott and Billy Koumetio’s friendlies with England and France under-19 were canceled due to cases.
