Mikel Arteta is concerned that players leaving for international duty after this weekend will be at risk of bringing Covid-19 back with them.

ST ALBANS, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 19: Arsenal Manager, Mikel Arteta looks on during a Arsenal Training Session at London Colney on February 19, 2020 in St Albans, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)
ST ALBANS, ENGLAND – FEBRUARY 19: Arsenal Manager, Mikel Arteta looks on during a Arsenal Training Session at London Colney on February 19, 2020 in St Albans, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

In March, it was Mikel Arteta’s positive test that resulted in football shutting down in England. Since then. the Premier League has devised a bubble system that is working better than you’d expect given how many humans are involved in keeping the bubbles sealed.

Sure, there have been a few cases of Premier League players still testing positive, but, on the whole, it has worked well.

Will that be the case for players when they head off on international duty? Probably not.

“We have much more information right now than we had many months ago when that happened,” Arteta told reporters.

“The bubbles that the Premier League, the clubs and the Government have been able to create to try to keep everybody as safe as possible are working really, really well.

“But we all know that the issue is still there.

Liverpool's German manager Jurgen Klopp (L) and Arsenal's Spanish head coach Mikel Arteta gesture on the touchline after the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium in London on July 15, 2020. - Arsenal won the game 2-1. (Photo by PAUL CHILDS / POOL / AFP)
Liverpool’s German manager Jurgen Klopp (L) and Arsenal’s Spanish head coach Mikel Arteta gesture on the touchline after the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium in London on July 15, 2020. – Arsenal won the game 2-1. (Photo by PAUL CHILDS / POOL / AFP)

“It is not going away and we have to keep the same approach and be always very careful, very conservative and try to maintain this business because it is really important in many, many aspects.

“We are lucky in our profession that we have found a way. Not many professions can say that.

“Let’s respect that and try to keep going in the best possible way.

“Obviously when everyone has to fly away to very different countries, I think at the moment it’s a little bit of an experience.

“We don’t know what the outcome is. We want to believe that they are going to follow a lot of things that are implemented and working well so fingers crossed we don’t get any bad news.”

Arsenal play Liverpool in the Premier League on Monday night then travel back up to Anfield for their Carabao Cup fourth round tie.

After that it’s Sheffield United on Sunday before we head into the international break.

Club football returns on 17 October when we travel to Manchester City.