Matteo Guendouzi is entering a 10-day isolation period after testing positive for coronavirus, though fortunately without symptoms.

Hertha BSC report that after returning from the France u21 camp, Matteo Guendouzi twice tested positive for coronavirus. As a result, he has to isolate for the next 10 days.

Fortunately, he didn’t have any contact with the team or staff, so no one has to join him in isolation. The on-loan Arsenal midfielder also has no symptoms and is feeling well, so there are no real concerns there either. It could’ve been worse.

On the other hand, this is yet another sign of just how ridiculous it is we’re playing these international matches mid-season. The regular trips back and forth between club and country will inevitably lead to more and more cases like this.

The Premier League – or the Bundesliga in Guendouzi’s case – can set their own testing measures, but they all become irrelevant as soon as one of your players heads off on international duty alongside players from leagues without those measures.

That’s not to mention the differing guidelines from country to country.

As we’ve seen with Kieran Tierney, you can test negative for the virus repeatedly and test positive for the antibodies, and still have to isolate simply because those are the rules in Scotland. Regardless of the rules in the Premier League.

It’s a mess. Playing all the international games in one go at the end of a condensed domestic season would make much more sense.