Mikel Arteta Opens Up on Recovery & How He First Realised He Had Contracted Coronavirus
By Tom Gott
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed how he first realised he may have contracted coronavirus, opening up on his recovery from the virus.
The Spaniard was the first high-profile figure in English football to test positive for the virus, forcing the entire Arsenal team into quarantine and ultimately setting in motion the suspension of the Premier League.
Thanks for your words and support.Feeling better already.We’re all facing a huge & unprecedented challenge.Everyone’s health is all that matters right now.Protect each other by following the guidelines & we’ll come through this together.Well done PL for making the right decisions pic.twitter.com/0rnwHmQWha
— Mikel Arteta (@m8arteta) March 13, 2020
Now on the mend and speaking to La Sexta, Arteta admitted that he did not consider that he had coronavirus until he learned that the president of Olympiacos (Arsenal's Europa League opponent) had tested positive.
"I'm very well now, I feel that I have recovered," Arteta revealed. "It took me three or four days to start feeling much better and with more energy, to leave the symptoms behind and now, the truth is that I feel very well.
"Everything happened very fast. On Tuesday afternoon I was feeling so-so and I went to see the doctor but he wasn't there.
"I got a call from the board of directors after training while I was in my car and they told me that the president of Olympiacos had tested positive and everyone that had been in contact was at risk.
"I went on to tell them that I wasn't feeling well and that we had a situation because we had lots of players that had been in contact with them [Olympiacos]. We had a game against Manchester City the next day and obviously we couldn't put lots of people at risk without saying anything."
The Premier League were seemingly not aware of the situation, confirming that the fixture was set to go ahead as planned just minutes before Arsenal revealed that Arteta had tested positive for coronavirus.
Stay at home. Save lives.#StayAtHomeSaveLives pic.twitter.com/tArRs3TDKG
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) March 23, 2020
"I had the test done last Wednesday and I was diagnosed on Friday, when we had to communicate it to the Premier League that I had tested positive," the boss added.
"Obviously all those that had been in contact with me had to go into quarantine, and consequently, games had to be suspended."