Manchester City will have to make a decision on whether Aymeric Laporte and Riyad Mahrez are ready to start their Premier League opener against Wolves after they tested positive for Covid-19.
The pair are currently self-isolating in line with Premier League and government guidance; sources confirmed that this should only need to be 10 rather than 14 days given they are not displaying symptoms, but that is still a considerable chunk of the time the squad will be preparing for the match at Molineux.
City's pre-season has been more disrupted than usual as a consequence of how the pandemic has distorted the football calendar. Some players reported back for duty last week but others are currently on international duty with their countries and Pep Guardiola is currently confined to his home after the UK enforced quarantine restrictions on anyone returning from Spain.
Participation in the Champions League and TV scheduling also means that the Blues will kick off their league campaign later than any other side, giving them extra time to prepare.
All of that means that while Laporte and Mahrez will likely have days rather than weeks with the squad before the Wolves game, they will not have that much less time than their teammates.
Whether it is enough to be in consideration for selection for the Premier League opener though is a decision that Guardiola and his coaching staff will have to make based on what they see in training ahead of the game.
