Manchester United to leave out new signing for winter training camp

New Manchester United signing Odion Ighalo will not attend the club's winter training camp in Spain over fears he would be barred from returning to the United Kingdom over the corona virus threat. 

The club are concerned United Kingdom immigration could tighten border restrictions after the World Health Organisation announced the disease as a global emergency. 

The Nigerian international joined the Red Devils last week from Chinese side Shanghai Shenhua on loan until the end of the season. 

The Unite Kingdom Border control is monitoring all persons who have arrived from China in the last 14 days. 

The 30-year-old, who is currently in Manchester, will stay in England "on a personal training and fitness program". 

United said that "it is simply a precautionary measure as the situation continues to be monitored". 

Boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told the club website: "Odion will stay in Manchester, because he arrived from China in the last 14 days. 

"Because of the situation in China, we're not sure if he'd be allowed back into England if he leaves the country again. 

"So he's staying here working with a personal coach, 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 the risk [of potential border restrictions tightening], we don’t want to take that." 

It will certainly be a huge blow to Manchester United, who signed Ighalo as they wanted immediate impact from him. 

It now means he will have very limited time to train alongside his new team-mates. 

But the former Watford striker's desire to get up to speed is not in doubt, with it emerging he's been training with a taekwondo coach. 

Corona virus, which started in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has so far killed more than 700 people. 

In spite of efforts to contain the virus, it has gone international. 

There have been 28,368 cases confirmed so far. Tens of thousands have contracted the virus across 28 countries, including three in the Great Britain as well. 

The virus attacks the respiratory system, causing pneumonia-like lung lesions. 

Some of the virus types cause less serious disease, while others - like the one that caused Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) - are far more severe. 

In 2003 an outbreak of a similar virus, Sars, killed more than 900 around the world within weeks.

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