Three Premier League players have tested positive for Covid-19 in the latest round of testing instigated by the league.
Manchester City have confirmed that Aymeric Laporte and Riyad Mahrez have both returned positive tests for the virus, but the identity of the third player is unknown.
Both City stars are, therefore, doubtful for the opening round of fixtures for the new Premier League season, with Pep Guardiola’s side up against Wolves on Monday, September 21.
‘The Premier League can today confirm that between Monday 31 August and Sunday 6 September, 1,605 players and club staff were tested for Covid-19,’ a statement read. ‘Of these, there were three new positive tests.
‘Players or club staff who have tested positive will self-isolate for a period of 10 days.
‘The Premier League is providing this aggregated information for the purposes of competition integrity and transparency.
‘No specific details as to clubs or individuals will be provided by the League and results will be made public after each round of testing.’
City, however, elected to name Laporte and Mahrez as stars who contracted the virus.
‘Both players are currently observing a period of self-isolation in accordance with Premier League and UK Government protocol on quarantine. Neither is displaying symptoms of the virus,’ a statement from the club said.
‘Everyone at the Club wishes Riyad and Aymeric a speedy recovery ahead of their return to training and the new season.’
Indeed, the French defender took to social media to put out his own post.
‘Thank you all for your messages, everything is going as well as possible, I am following the protocol for the next few days and I will be back soon. Take care of yourself,’ he said on Twitter.
Meanwhile, Mahrez stated: ‘Thank you for all the nice messages, I’m good. Stay safe everyone take care of you.’
In total, 23 Premier League players have tested positive for the virus since May 17-18, when the protocol was first put in place.
Meanwhile, several other high-profile players from around the world have previously tested positive for the virus, including Manchester United’s Paul Pogba, who was on international duty with France when he returned his test, Paris Saint-Germain stars Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, as well as Barcelona midfielder Miralem Pjanic.