City, Chelsea and Spurs will not release players if they must isolate
Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur are ready to join Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp in stopping their players meeting up with their international teams this month if they have to quarantine on their return, in a move that could prompt a snowball effect among Premier League clubs.
Klopp insisted that Liverpool must take priority in making a decision on whether their players could travel, and that view has been echoed by City manager Pep Guardiola, Chelsea head coach Thomas Tuchel and Tottenham’s Jose Mourinho.
City’s Brazilian contingent, Ederson, Fernandinho and Gabriel Jesus, could all be affected, as could Portuguese internationals Joao Cancelo and Ruben Dias, and Argentina striker Sergio Aguero.
“I think it makes no sense if the players go to the national team and then have to isolate for 10 days when they come back,” Guardiola said. “We’ve worked incredibly tough for seven, eight or nine months and after the international break comes the real part of the season, and important players, maybe six, seven, eight, nine players cannot play for 10 days. It makes no sense.
“They are not going to fly. That’s for sure. If they can fly, play with the national team and come straight back to training, they’ll fly.”
Parts of South America and Africa are on the Government’s red list of countries, which require returning travellers to quarantine for 10 days.
Chelsea will not allow defender Thiago Silva, goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and midfielder Hakim Ziyech to join up with the Brazil, Senegal and Morocco squads respectively if there is any threat of them having to quarantine on their return. It also means that Tottenham have doubts over Colombian centre-back Davinson Sanchez, Argentina midfielder Giovani Lo Celso and Ivory Coast international Serge Aurier. Son Heung-min could be prevented from travelling to Japan to play for South Korea in a proposed friendly.
Games scheduled to be played in South America could be moved to non-red list countries and Fifa says clubs can prevent players leaving if they need to quarantine for five days or more on their return.
Mourinho agreed with Liverpool manager Klopp that the interests of the players’ clubs must come first.
The Portuguese said: “Let’s see what is going to happen, where the matches are going to be played and of course the clubs have the right to protect themselves, because Jurgen is right, the clubs pay the players.”