“Everything is going well”, says Fellaini after testing positive for coronavirus

Former Belgian international Marouane Fellaini, a top star in the Chinese soccer league (CSL), tested positive for the new coronavirus, his club Shandong Luneng announced Sunday.

“He is under observation and is undergoing treatment at a designated medical center,” said Shandong, who said the 32-year-old midfielder has a normal temperature and feels well.

“The club will do its best … to assist the player in his treatment and recovery,” added his club.

The player himself wanted to reassure himself about his condition by writing a message on social networks.

“I am back in China and I am in the hospital. I can assure you that everything is going well for me now. Thanks to the fans, the medical staff and the club,” Fellaini said on Instagram, with a photo of him smiling and with his thumb raised. .

“I will continue the treatment and I hope to return to play as soon as possible. I ask all of you to exercise caution,” adds the former midfielder, who in March 2019 announced his retirement from the Belgian team.

The Chinese authorities, who fear a second wave of Covid-19 infections, will analyze the journey of the Belgian footballer until his return to China, to break an eventual chain of transmission of the virus.

According to the press, Fellaini flew to Shanghai from Singapore on Friday and then traveled the same day by train to Jinan, where he drove to a quarantine area and underwent a test that tested positive for the new coronavirus.

– Second case in Chinese football –

Fellaini is the first confirmed case of coronavirus in the CSL elite, which could delay the resumption of the Chinese league. Another case in Chinese soccer had been announced this week, that of a Brazilian player whose name was not officially announced, from a second division club.

Bronze at the last World Cup in Russia-2018 with the ‘Red Devils’, Fellaini joined Shandong in February last year, from English Manchester United, in a transfer estimated by the press at 7.2 million euros.

Shandong Luneng is a team based in Jinan City, about 400 kilometers south of Beijing.

Fellaini’s case is added to that of other important names in football that have tested positive for coronavirus, such as the Spanish Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta or the Argentine Juventus attacker Paulo Dybala, among others.

On Saturday, former Real Madrid president Lorenzo Sanz, also infected with the coronavirus, passed away at the age of 76.

The coronavirus, which appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan in December, has spread around the world and is currently the most worrying point of the pandemic in Europe.

According to a balance established by the AFP on Sunday at 9:00 GMT, there have been at least 300,097 cases of infection in 169 countries and territories, with 12,895 deaths. The number of diagnosed cases only reflects a fraction of the actual number of infections, since many countries only test people who require hospitalization.