Everton to request 'full disclosure' of facts after Man City postponement
By Tom Gott
Everton have released a statement voicing their frustration towards the decision to postpone their meeting with Manchester City on Monday evening.
The Premier League decided to postpone the game late on Monday after the City squad were hit with a fresh batch of positive COVID-19 cases, adding to the positive tests from Kyle Walker and Gabriel Jesus last week.
As you guys can see it's clearly not over yet.. please remember to follow the rules and keep you and your family safe ❤️??❤️?? https://t.co/6FfBolvD7I
— Aymeric Laporte (@Laporte) December 28, 2020
While Everton were obviously supportive of the postponement initially, they later took to their official website to question the decision and call on the Premier League to explain their thought process.
"Everton Football Club regret the postponement of tonight’s match against Manchester City - not only for the 2,000 fans who would have been attending, but for supporters on Merseyside and across the world," a statement read.
"Our players were prepared for the game, as were both the team staff and everyone at Goodison. Matchday is the most important date in our calendar. And this was a big one.
"Whilst Everton will always have public safety uppermost, we will be requesting full disclosure of all the information that Manchester City provided to the Premier League so the Club can be clear on why this decision was taken."
City have yet to confirm the extent of the outbreak in the squad, but most reports have suggested that at least three new players have tested positive for COVID-19.
The Athletic state that City have closed their training ground amid concerns that their bubble has been breached, and the game was called off to ensure the safety of everyone involved with both Everton and City.
However, the Daily Star claim that there have been at least five more positive cases among the playing squad, so City are now rolling out tests for everyone who has been at the training ground to try and isolate the virus as soon as possible.
It is not yet known how the virus worked its way into City's camp, but The Sun claim that club officials believe it stems from their recent stay in London for their Carabao Cup quarter-final meeting with Arsenal.
City hope to return to training as soon as possible, but until the severity of the outbreak is determined, upcoming meetings with Chelsea (January 3), Manchester United (January 6) and Birmingham (January 10) all appear to be in doubt.