Top 10 footballers who tested positive for COVID-19

Many high-profile players have contracted the widespread virus in the recent few weeks.

Since the coronavirus pandemic took over the world in 2020, several high-profile players and managers have unfortunately contracted the virus despite adhering to social distancing norms in their daily lives. Players like Paul Pogba, Neymar and Paulo Dybala and managers like Mikel Arteta, Diego Simeone and David Moyes among others have been found Covid-19 positive in recent weeks.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic has affected the whole world, it has also changed the football scene dramatically. From playing in empty stadiums to sitting in the dugout with facemasks on, football has had to do its fair share of adjustment to continue to function.

However, some players and staff members still managed to get infected by the coronavirus despite taking every precaution possible, mainly due to off the field factors. We have compiled a list of top ten footballers that have been tested positive for Covid-19 yet.

Callum Hudson-Odoi 

Chelsea youngster Callum Hudson-Odoi had released a video confirming that he had contracted the coronavirus in March earlier this year. This led to Chelsea closing off their training facilities temporarily and everyone that came into close contact with the Englishman was asked to self-isolate.

https://twitter.com/Calteck10/status/1238374982289424384

Keylor Navas

Just before the start of the current French Ligue 1 campaign, six Paris Saint-Germain stars were found positive for the coronavirus and including them was the goalkeeper, Keylor Navas as well. The players were swiftly asked to self-isolate and recovered soon.

Daniele Rugani

Juventus’ defender Daniele Rugani was one of the earliest reported cases of Covid-19 from the Italian Serie A. The centre-back released a statement following the revelation of him being positive to Covid-19 and said, "I urge everyone to respect the rules, because this virus makes no distinctions! Let's do it for ourselves, for our loved ones and for those around us.”

Kylian Mbappe

On September 8 2020, Kylian Mbappe also found himself positive to Covid-19 which made him miss out on his national duty for France in the UEFA Nations League fixture against Croatia. Incidentally, he was the seventh PSG player to have contracted the virus after the six players were tested positive. Mbappe since has made a full recovery but is yet to reach optimum match fitness.

Marquinhos

Paris Saint-Germain seemed to have really failed to control their players’ pre-season movements as their long-time serving defender Marquinhos also reported positive to Covid-19 along with six other first-team players.

https://twitter.com/KhelNowWF/status/1301823094747795456

Paulo Dybala

Juventus and Argentina forward, Paulo Dybala was found positive to Covid-19 not once but four times. After announcing back in March that he and his girlfriend had been tested positive for coronavirus, Dybala was tested several times and was found Covid-19 positive four times by the end of April. Since then, the attacker has managed to adhere to social distancing norms and avoided a fifth positive test. 

Angel Di Maria

Another senior figure in the PSG squad who contracted coronavirus was Angel Di Maria. He was reportedly one of the six players that recently failed to follow social distancing guidelines in the pre-season and ended up catching the virus. The Argentine made a quick recovery after isolating away from the rest of the squad. 

Paul Pogba

A fortnight before Manchester United’s opening game of the new Premier League campaign. Paul Pogba reportedly was found positive to Covid-19 in the latest round of testing. MUFC have also been one of the clubs criticised for not controlling their players’ postseason movements, making them more exposed. Pogba has since recovered, but has lacked match fitness due to lack of training.

Neymar

The Brazilian superstar Neymar also contracted coronavirus during the preseason festivities along with his PSG teammates in Ibiza, Spain. The fact that six first-team players reported positive made PSG’s loss in their first game of the season against RC Lens. None of the six players featured in 1-0 loss on 10 September.  

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

Zlatan Ibrahimovic reported positive for Covid-19 a day after helping his current employers, AC Milan win their Serie A fixture against Bologna. The Swede scored a brace in the 2-0 victory after signing another year extension with the Azzurri. The forward has since self-isolated and is on the way to make a full recovery soon.

https://twitter.com/Ibra_official/status/1309142915210506244

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