Aston Villa boss Dean Smith: Help out ‘bubble’ players
Dean Smith thinks more should have been done to help players travelling to red-list countries during the international break.
Emi Martinez and Marvelous Nakamba must both quarantine for 10 days in ‘bespoke facilities’ after representing Argentina and Zimbabwe respectively.
While the compromise agreement between the Premier League and the government will allow them to avoid hotel quarantine and also train and feature in matches, Smith believes it is tough on players who will spend more than three weeks away from their families.
He said: “Am I happy? No. I wanted better solutions. It’s a really difficult situation involving associations and different governments and we have to deal with it.
“Players are going from bubbles to bubbles and spending 10 days in isolation is an awful long time to be away from their families. It is a really big ask but they’re having to do it because they want to play international football and club football as well. You know what you signed up for and, sometimes, you have to accept it. But it is a big ask.”
Martinez spent 10 days in Croatia in order to avoid hotel quarantine after the last international break but was visited by his family during that time.
