Premier League sources maintain that the plan is still to restart football as soon as practical after April 30th, despite the issues this presents for the integrity of the competition.

The BBC wrote last week that a Premier League source informed them that they’re planning to restart the season as soon as they can after April 30th, unless the government steps in to stop them.

Of course, games would take place behind closed doors, but that doesn’t take away the risk to players and staff.

According to another source in the BBC report, if we saw a repeat of the situation with Mikel Arteta, the plan would be for just that single match to be postponed. Alternatively, the competing club would just use the players they still had available.

Obviously, this is a terrible plan. Players are meant to self-isolate for 14 days from the last contact with someone testing positive. So would we see just one club stop playing for two weeks whilst the rest of the matches went on?

How could the competing club “use the players they had available” if everyone is self-isolating?

Even if you tested all the other players before sending them all out onto the pitch, the integrity of the competition is long gone if Aubameyang and Lacazette can test positive a few days before the North London derby and we just have to go on without them.

That’s not to mention that it would be a hugely selfish use of medical resources. Taking the tests away from people in need to prioritise ensuring a football match can go ahead.

Unfortunately, you can see the dollar signs in the eyes of the Premier League higher-ups right now.