Manchester United striker Odion Ighalo has been banned from using the club’s training ground because of a potential coronavirus risk.
The 30-year-old joined the Red Devils on transfer deadline day on loan from Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua.
Authorities at Old Trafford ordered Ighalo to train away from their complex amid health and safety concerns with the deadly virus claiming more than 1,100 lives worldwide.
The former Watford man was brought in to serve as cover for injured Marcus Rashford with United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer lacking options in attack.
Ighalo did not travel with the rest of the United squad to their training camp in Marbella during the winter break, over fears border restrictions could tighten, and he would be unable to return to the UK.
To add to that, United barred Ighalo from the AON Training Complex, while he is still within the 14-day incubation period.
The measures are purely precautionary with the striker not travelling from Wuhan, the Chinese province where coronavirus started.
On Ighalo’s absence from the training camp, Solskjaer said: “Odion will stay in Manchester because since he has come from China in the last 14 days, the news of the virus there means we’re not sure if he’s going to be allowed back into England if he leaves the country again.
“So, he’s staying here working with a personal coach on an individual programme and his family then can settle in England as well. That’s a plus.
“Of course, he might have liked to have come with the players and got to know them, but we don’t want to take that risk of potential border restrictions tightening.”
Ighalo has been working on a tailored training programme at the GB Taekwondo Centre in Manchester instead.
Performance coach Wayne Richardson has been putting the striker through his paces before United return to action on Monday, February 17 in a crunch clash against Chelsea in the Premier League.
Ighalo has been included in the 18-man squad for the game against Chelsea on February 17.
