Xherdan Shaqiri Tests Positive for COVID-19 on Joining Swiss National Team

Photo by John Powell/Liverpool FC via Getty Images

The player is Liverpool’s third to return a positive test in a little more than a week.

A little more than a week ago now, Thiago Alcantara was forced into self-isolation following a positive test for COVID-19. Last last week, he was joined by Sadio Mané. Today, it has been confirmed that a third Liverpool player has tested positive.

On Monday, Xherdan Shaqiri flew off to join the Swiss national team ahead of matches against Croatia, Spain, and Germany over the next two weeks, but today the federation has confirmed the 28-year-old tested positive for the virus on arrival.

“Xherdan Shaqiri has tested positive,” read a statement from the federation released today. “In consultation with the health authorities, he is in isolation. Clarifications are currently under way with local health authorities about how to proceed.”

Overall, Shaqiri becomes the fourth Liverpool player to test positive already this season, with Kostas Tsimikas diagnosed mid-way through the last international break while with the Greek national team, and the timeline seems concerning.

With Thiago, Mané, and now Shaqiri receiving positive diagnoses over just a little more than a week, there is at least the appearance the virus may be moving between players in Liverpool’s squad right as they head off on international duty.

In Germany, when faced with three positive tests over a short period this past week, Red Bull Salzburg ordered all players at the club into self-isolation and refused to release any to play for their national teams in an effort to stop the spread.

Source: liverpooloffside.sbnation.com