Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has revealed the Manchester United staff will hold further talks with the players about getting the Covid-19 vaccination.
The Norwegian also spoke about the strict measures his side must abide by in order to protect them from losing groups of players through the campaign due to isolation.
The United manager also confirmed that some of his team are double vaccinated, but he admitted some of them have doubts over getting the jab.
What has been said?
“Yeah, we’ve informed them and some of them are already fully vaccinated, some are not sure,” said Solskjaer when asked if the club had held conversations with the players about getting the vaccine.
“But we’re going to have a bigger session with them now because I think it’s important that everyone knows what it’s about.”
The United manager also spoke about the precautions his side need to take to ensure next season runs smoothly.
“That [Preston friendly being called off] I think was a testing mistake because all nine tested positive and then, next day when we did a proper PCR test, they were negative so if that happened the day before the first league game that would be a problem. That’s not our fault what happened but it’s cost us preparation time, it’s cost us a couple of days away from the training ground,” Solskjaer explained.
“So, when you say the summer has been perfect, it’s not been perfect because the world is not perfect, it’s not an ideal world. We live in a world where the rates are still high.
“Footballers have been privileged because when the world has been closed we’ve been able to play football, now the rest of it has opened, but we have to be really careful because if they spend too long in a place then they might catch something so we’ve got to be really careful. But it’s a sacrifice we’ve got to make to play football.
“As I said, we are privileged, but it’s a difficult situation because their life is not normal. I think it’s been easier for us because we’ve been able to come into work, train together, play games and, yeah we’ve had to live in a bubble, but other people have had to stay inside and not be able to go outside and see anyone.
“We’ve been privileged but at the moment our day is different to anyone else’s because signing autographs for the kids, taking pictures, yeah we want to do it but we can’t. That’s hard for us. For the Leeds game, Old Trafford will be full, fans will be outside, we want to engage with them but we can’t really because you think if I catch something here it’s a four-game ban. Literally. So it’s such a difficult one.”
What are the rules around testing and vaccinations?
At the moment players and staff are tested twice a week and rigorous testing will continue into the new season to stop the spread of the virus.
However, it has been suggested the government is considering bringing in a Covid Pass from October 1 which would require all players, staff and supporters to be doubly vaccinated to attend games.
Goal has learned the Premier League will not be bringing in their own mandate on vaccinations but will be following government guidelines.
How has Covid affected pre-season?
A number of clubs, including Manchester United, have seen their pre-season plans disrupted due to Covid. United had a friendly called off against Preston North End after they returned nine positive lateral flow results after their draw with Brentford last week.
The club called off the friendly as a precaution due to the ‘suspected positive cases’ meaning Solskjaer’s side missed out on another preparation game. Those positive tests came back negative when PCR tests were completed the next day, meaning everyone could return to training.
Manchester City had to cancel plans to allow fans to watch one of their pre-season games and a friendly against Troyes had to be cancelled due to the travel restrictions. Their training ground was also forced into a partial shutdown due to the virus.
Arsenal saw their pre-season tour to America cancelled due to a number of positive cases and Chelsea are another club who have recorded positive cases in the last few weeks.
Further reading
- Solskjaer gives Man Utd transfer window update after Sancho and Varane deals
- Premier League footballers will need to have Covid-19 vaccinations for 2021-22 season
- Arsenal cancel US pre-season tour
