Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has suggested Manchester United could prevent players from travelling for international duty later this month, with Bruno Fernandes poised to be stopped from teaming up with Portugal ahead of their World Cup qualifiers against Azerbaijan, Serbia and Luxembourg.
UK government restrictions dictate that players from a selection of countries in Europe, Africa and South America will be forced to quarantine for 10 days upon their return to the UK and subsequently miss club training and fixtures.
Fifa has announced that clubs will be able to stop players from travelling to represent their countries on international duty if it means they will be faced with quarantine restrictions upon their return.
Fernandes would face a 10-day isolation period if he were to go away with Portugal, and Solskjaer is prepared to take advantage of Fifa’s new regulation.
“We have not sat down and made a proper call on that one but it doesn’t make sense if you lose your player for 10 days’ isolation because we are the ones paying the players,” Solskjaer said (via the Mirror).
“From what I understand, that (being allowed to ban players travelling) is the rule. Fifa have given the rule that they don’t have to be released, so it is going to be a hard call to make to let them play in red-list countries.
“I want Bruno ready for Brighton and hopefully we will be through in Europe and against Tottenham after that.”
Fernandes has been United’s most influential player this season | Visionhaus/Getty Images
Should Fernandes feature in all three of Portugal’s qualifiers during the international break, he would be unavailable for United’s Premier League games against Brighton on 3 April and Tottenham on 10 April.
On Wednesday, Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp also said that the club will not be releasing players for international duty if they will face a 10-day quarantine period.
“I think everyone agrees we cannot let the players go and play for their country and come back and quarantine for 10 days in a hotel, that is not how we can do it,” the Liverpool boss said.
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