Varun Pai
Manchester United players return for training after Covid-19 outbreak but 8 stars, including Cristiano Ronaldo, remains absent
According to the Manchester Evening News, several Manchester United players returned to training after the Covid-19 outbreak last week but 8 stars, including Cristiano Ronaldo, were unaccounted for.
The club closed the Carrington training ground last Tuesday following the Covid-19 outbreak. That outbreak also saw our game against Brentford in mid-week called off. The training ground opened again on Wednesday and Thursday, before closing again after the Brighton game on Saturday was postponed.
Marcus Rashford, Harry Maguire, Raphael Varane, Scott McTominay, Fred, Mason Greenwood, Luke Shaw, Jesse Lingard, and Juan Mata were pictured driving into the complex. Shaw, Greenwood, and Lingard left 10 minutes later.
However, 8 stars, namely, Cristiano Ronaldo, Donny van de Beek, Paul Pogba, Diogo Dalot, Jadon Sancho, Phil Jones, Tom Heaton, and Dean Henderson, were among those unaccounted for. Thus, they could have missed the cameras or have not reported for training due to their respective issues.
Apart from the 9 players that were pictured driving into Carrington, 12 other stars, namely Charlie Savage, Anthony Martial, Eric Bailly, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Edinson Cavani, Victor Lindelof, Bruno Fernandes, Amad Diallo, David de Gea, Alex Telles, Nemanja Matic, Lee Grant, were part of the training sessions on Tuesday.
Massive confusion
Since Ralf Rangnick took over the helm, he has not had a chance to completely evaluate the squad. He took over things after Michael Carrick departed following the 3-2 victory against Arsenal at Old Trafford. Since then, he has picked up victories against Norwich and Crystal Palace. He gave the youth and a couple of fringe-stars the chance to shine in the draw against BSC Young Boys.
The current week was the one chance he would have received to train for seven full days with the entire squad, especially since we are not playing a part in the EFL Cup anymore. However, if the 8 supposed stars never reported for training, it is a massive blow.
The absence of Cristiano Ronaldo, Jadon Sancho, and Diogo Dalot would worry the German the most. The trio has been regulars under the former Red Bull sporting director. And fans would have been expecting them to take the field against Newcastle United on Monday night.
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Regardless, there are still some days to go. And these players could still return if they were actually absent from training on Tuesday. Arsenal have assumed 4th place on the table after playing two more games than us, making the match against the Magpies in six days all the more important.
Even if we are without some of our first-team starts against Eddie Howe’s Newcastle, that cannot be an excuse if we fail to win the game. The Toons are in the relegation zone and have shown no real fight in most of their games this season. This is perhaps an ideal time to face them considering the new Saudi Arabian owners haven’t had the chance to flex their muscles in the transfer market to strengthen their team so far.
