Coronavirus: Former Nigerian Super Eagles Striker, Ighalo Dropped From Manchester Utd Squad

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Odion Ighalo
Guinea’s defender Issiaga Sylla (L) vies for the ball with Nigeria’s forward Odion Ighalo (R) during the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (CAN) football match between Nigeria and Guinea at the Alexandria Stadium on June 26, 2019.

Manchester United football club manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed that Odion Ighalo will not join up with the squad in Spain due to Coronavirus travel restrictions.

It was gathered that the former Nigerian Super Eagles player was dropped due to fears that he could be denied entry back into the United Kingdom because of the coronavirus outbreak.

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Despite being cleared to travel to the UK amid the outbreak of Coronavirus in China, Manchester United have taken the decision to keep the striker in Carrington instead of joining the team for their winter training camp in Marbella.

Ighalo has not contracted the virus, but Solksjaer said that the potential tightening of border restrictions could in turn prevent Ighalo from returning back to the UK.

Solskjaer’s statement on the club’s website reads;

Odion [Ighalo] will stay in Manchester, because since he’s coming from China in the last 14 days and the news of the virus there we’re not sure if he’s going to 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.

Manchester United head to Spain on Saturday for a warm-weather camp, English Premier League (EPL) mid-season break.

Read Also: First Possible Case Of Coronavirus Recorded In Ghana

Ighalo who signed from Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua on a six-month loan deal will remain in Manchester, where he will undergo on a personal training and fitness programme.

It was gathered that there are currently three reported cases of the deadly coronavirus in the UK.

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