Covid-19 diagnosis set to delay Barcelona player's long-awaited debut

The fresh surge of novel coronavirus infections in Spain has not spared FC Barcelona. On Monday, the club announced that Clement Lenglet and Dani Alves have both tested positive for Covid-19. It's a big blow for Alves in particular, who had been eager to make his second official debut with the club.

The two players will be required to stay isolated under quarantine for at least 10 days, which may be extended if they fail to return a negative test result after that period. They were unable to re-join their teammates for training after testing positive on Monday afternoon, and the club will be hoping that no other players will test positive in the coming days.

After completing the required isolation period and if they remain asymptomatic and are cleared to play in the best case scenario, Lenglet and Alves will still miss Barcelona's upcoming matches against Real Mallorca in La Liga and Linares Deportivo in the Copa del Rey.

Alves will be sorely disappointed to push back his second official debut with the club, after having already been made to wait for almost two months. The Barcelona legend re-joined the club in November after getting summoned by former teammate Xavi Hernandez, who is now the new team manager. Alves was recruited to help get Barcelona back on track after a string of dismal results this season. However, he was not eligible to play until January, and fans were getting excited to see him finally play next week. Unfortunately, Covid had other plans.

Xavi will be hoping that Alves recovers quickly from Covid-19, or else he will end up with a player that he signed amid much fanfare but is unable to use. The club will also be working hard to contain the outbreak. Having multiple players sidelined is the last thing they need at a time when they are desperate to bring home points.

Barcelona is currently sitting in 7th place in the La Liga table, and they would want to get back into the Champions League spots as soon as possible. A Covid outbreak will surely affect their already disappointing campaign, so they must take extreme measures to stop the spread. Earlier this month, league leaders Real Madrid faced a similar crisis, with up to ten members of the first-team squad testing positive.