Odion Ighalo banned from using Man Utd training ground facilities over coronavirus fears
New Manchester United signing Odion Ighalo joined the club on transfer deadline day but has not trained at their facilities because of coronavirus fears.
Man Utd: Odion Ighalo cools down in the gym after work out
Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo has been prevented from using the club’s training ground because of a potential coronavirus risk. The former Watford man joined the Red Devils on transfer deadline day on loan from Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua.
United ordered Ighalo to train away from their complex amid health and safety concerns with the deadly virus claiming more than 1,100 lives worldwide.
The 30-year-old has been brought in with Marcus Rashford out injured and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lacking options in attack.
Ighalo did not travel with the rest of the United squad to their training camp in Marbella during the winter break, over fears border restrictions could tighten, and he would be unable to return to the UK.
On top of that, United made the decision to bar Ighalo from the AON Training Complex, while he is still within the 14-day incubation period.
Man Utd news: Odion Ighalo has been training away from the club because of coronavirus fears (Image: GETTY/TWITTER)
The measures are purely precautionary with the striker not travelling from Wuhan, the Chinese province where coronavirus started.
On Ighalo’s absence from the training camp, Solskjaer said: “Odion will stay in Manchester, because since he has come from China in the last 14 days, the news of the virus there means we're not sure if he's going to be allowed back into England if he leaves the country again.
“So he's staying here working with a personal coach on an individual programme and his family then can settle in England as well. That's a plus.
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“Of course, he might have liked to have come with the players and got to know them, but we don’t want to take that risk [of potential border restrictions tightening].”
Ighalo has been working on a tailored training programme at the GB Taekwondo Centre in Manchester instead.
Performance coach Wayne Richardson has been putting the striker through his paces before United return to action on Monday in a crunch clash against Chelsea in the Premier League.
Nigeria international Ighalo is expected to be in the 18-man squad for the game at Stamford Bridge.
Man Utd news: Marcus Rashford is out injured with a double stress fracture to his back (Image: GETTY)