Chelsea and United States men’s midfielder Christian Pulisic will miss the Premier League clash against Arsenal on Sunday after testing positive for COVID-19.
Manager Thomas Tuchel confirmed on Friday that the 22-year-old has not trained with the winger since Wednesday after his positive test and will be isolated for at least 10 days according to government guidelines.
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“Unfortunately, Christian is easy to explain,” Tuchel told reporters when asked why he would not be available for Sunday.
“He had a positive test and has to follow the protocols. He is not training or available for the game [against Arsenal]. “
Pulisic posted in his Instagram story: “Unfortunately, I tested positive for COVID-19 earlier this week. Fortunately I am completely vaccinated and have no symptoms so far.”
The positive test comes before the qualifying matches for the USMNT World Cup. The squad will meet in Nashville in nine to ten days, with the first ranked against El Salvador in 13 days. According to sources, the first indications are that Pulisic wants to return to the Chelsea match with Liverpool next week, before he joins the national team.
Pulisic’s absence is a blow to both Chelsea and the 22-year-old, who marked Chelsea’s opening weekend victory over Crystal Palace.
Chelsea’s new signing, Romelu Lukaku, of 97.5 million pounds will be in the line of debut against Arsenal, increasing the competition for places in the most attacking positions with Pulisic with the aim of regaining his career after of a 2020-21 mixed season.
Chelsea declined to confirm exactly when Pulisic tested positive, but sources told ESPN they expect to be available for next Saturday’s trip to Liverpool. No other player is believed to be affected at this stage.
Arsenal have also suffered with the COVID-19 ahead of the London derby as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette, Willian and Alex Runarsson lost their 2-0 defeat to Brentford last Friday.
The head of the gunners, Mikel Arteta, said on Friday that all four doubt Sunday’s match, although Lacazette returned to training on Thursday.