ODION Ighalo will miss out on Manchester United’s week-long training camp in Spain because the club fears travel restrictions will prevent him returning to England due to quarantine guidelines put in place for recent visitors to China.
Ighalo, 30, arrived in Manchester last weekend from China, having finalised a deal with the club to spend the rest of the season on loan at Old Trafford. However, because he arrived from China, where he was playing for Shanghai Shenhua, Ighalo is subject to several travel restrictions as a result of the coronavirus which has claimed 722 lives so far.
It is believed that the UK will soon place travel restrictions on people who have travelled to mainland China within the past fortnight. As a result, Manchester United are not prepared to risk taking Ighalo to its holiday training camp in Marbella, in southern Spain, in case he is not allowed back into the UK.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the Manchester United manager, said: “Odion will stay in Manchester, because he arrived from China in the last 14 days. Because of the situation in China, we’re not sure if he’d be allowed back into England if he leaves the country again.
“He’s staying here working with a personal coach, individual programme and his family, then can settle in England as well. Of course he might have liked to have come with the players and get to know them but with the risk of potential border restrictions tightening, we don’t want to take that.”
Manchester United, who will stay in Marbella when they head on their warm-weather training camp this weekend, described the decision as a precautionary measure. With this restriction, it is now unlikely that Ighalo will make Manchester United’s starting line-up when they face Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on February 17.
