Man Utd stars including Rashford and Lingard may have to cut short Greek holiday to avoid missing start of pre-season
MANCHESTER UNITED duo Marcus Rashford and Jesse Lingard could be forced to cut short their holiday in Greece.
The attackers jetted for the sunshine and white sandy beaches for a well-earned rest days after their Europa League semi-final defeat to Sevilla.
But coronavirus fears could see them return to the UK ahead of schedule.
Their holiday was given the green light by club chiefs with instructions from Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to return to pre-season training on September 1.
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Holidaymakers in the Balkans currently do not have to quarantine on their return to the UK.
But that could all change at the weekend as the government considers adding six countries onto the quarantine list.
Greece, Croatia, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Austria and Portugal have seen a spike in cases and are likely to be added to the “unsafe” list.
If that is the case, Lingard and Rashford will be forced to pack their bags and rush home within 30 hours.
Fellow players currently out of the country enjoying a holiday will also be glued to the latest Government advice, fearing they may be forced into a mad dash home.
If players have to quarantine for two weeks, they will miss the beginning of pre-season throwing Solskjaer’s preparations into disarray.
It will also give Gareth Southgate a selection headache with the England boss set to select Rashford for fixtures against Iceland and Denmark.
Greece has seen a spike of 250 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, its second highest figure in the pandemic.
COVID SPIKE
The news comes of the back of shock revelations the Premier League has been hit by 14 new cases of coronavirus since teams returned to training.
According to The Telegraph, the new cases have been recorded at 12 clubs who began preparations for next season last weekend.
Club officials are said to be concerned cases could continue to rise after players were pictured partying on holiday with pals from rival clubs over the past few weeks.
Tottenham midfielder Dele Alli, for example, was snapped with Leicester’s James Maddison and Villa star Jack Grealish in Ibiza.
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And West Ham’s Chelsea transfer target Declan Rice holidayed with life-long friend Mason Mount on the Greek island of Mykonos, where Tammy Abraham, Fikayo Tomori and Christian Pulisic – all potential Blues team-mates – were also pictured.
Blues midfielder Danny Drinkwater also hung out with his former Leicester colleague Ben Chilwell.
There is no suggestion any of these players have tested positive for coronavirus, or that they contributed to the spread of Covid-19 within the Premier League.