Arsenal speak to stars over distancing
ARSENAL have spoken to David Luiz, Alexandre Lacazette, Nicolas Pepe and Granit Xhaka after they were pictured flouting government guidelines on social distancing.
Luiz and Xhaka were seen meeting up in a park in north London, a video emerged of Pepe playing football with his friends, while Lacazette was pictured getting too close to a man valeting his car on his drive.
The PA news agency understands that the club have spoken to all four men to remind them of their responsibilities.
It has been an embarrassing time for some players since the UK introduced a lockdown to help curb the spread of coronavirus.
Jack Grealish and Kyle Walker were found to have attended parties, Mason Mount was spotted playing football with Declan Rice, while Tottenham have been the worst offenders. Serge Aurier and Moussa Sissoko were forced to apologise this week after Aurier filmed the duo holding a joint fitness session in a park while boss Jose Mourinho also had to admit he had behaved wrongly by taking Tanguy Ndombele for a one-on-one training session. ■■Gary Neville all but confirmed brother Phil Neville is to leave his role as England women’s manager next summer, with the European Championship’s delay to 2022 making a big impact on his thinking.
The former Manchester United and Everton defender last year led the Lionesses to SheBelieves Cup glory and fourth place at the World Cup, having succeeded Mark Sampson at the helm in January 2018.
Neville signed a deal with the Football Association until 2021, when England was due to host the European Championship - a tournament UEFA has confirmed will now take place from July 6-31, 2022, due to the coronavirus outbreak.
The 43-year-old is widely expected to leave before then at the expiration of his current contract. Gary Neville more or less confirmed the news that his brother would leave the England post at the end of his contract, having spoken to him when reports emerged on Wednesday afternoon.
“I think Phil was surprised that it had come out yesterday, but it’s out and obviously in football nowadays you accept that journalists have got good contacts and people are going to speak,” said Gary Neville.