Liverpool’s new Greek left-back Kostas Tsimikas is reportedly returning to Merseyside from international duty early after a positive test for coronavirus.
The £11.75 million signing from Olympiacos hasn’t yet featured in an official game for the Reds and his debut looks set to be delayed further.
He didn’t feature in the game on Thursday through illness and, according to SporTime, he then tested positive for coronavirus.
No other member of the Greece squad returned a positive test and Tsimikas was thus omitted from the travelling party for their second game, which is against Kosovo on Sunday.
The report says Tsimikas will return to England and Liverpool on Saturday, though the logistics of how he will travel in isolation are not mentioned.
Liverpool are playing Blackpool on Saturday, though as a European on international duty he wouldn’t have been playing in any case—and given the time frame before the Premier League season starts, he won’t feature against Leeds United either.
Premier League protocols dictate that players must return a negative test within five days of the match taking place, but they must also self-isolate for seven days after a positive test is returned.
It doesn’t make for the best of starts to life as a Red for Tsimikas, though as always the club take a longer-term approach to player development and this won’t hamper his involvement over the coming months, assuming he recovers well.
Liverpool have thus far not confirmed the case of Tsimikas, though it’s possible they will not announce anything at all, as seemed to be the case when one travelling member reportedly tested positive in the pre-season camp in Austria.
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