The COVID19 pandemic will give rise to a whole new loads of clauses in players contracts, and the deals between clubs.

Yesterday the transfer of Henrik Mkhitaryan to Roma was finally announced by Arsenal.

It was back at the end of June that the deal was apparently agreed, so it unusual that it took nearly 2 months for the “ink to dry” on a fairy easy to complete deal.

Also yesterday, Serie A announces that their season will officially start on September 19th.

The two bits of news breaking on the same day got me thinking.

Was part of the agreement between Arsenal and Roma that the “deal would only be confirmed once a Serie A have announced a start date for the 2020/21 season.”

This clause would protect Roma from signing a player before the confirmation of the forthcoming season. They would have been worried that had the deal gone through, and for whatever reason the 2020/21 Serie A season is further delayed, they would be paying a salary for a new player without games to play.

On the same train of thought, Arsenal’s deal for Gabriel is still her to be conformed. Could this be due to a COVID19 clause?

With people having the quarantine for 14 days coming in from France, Arsenal might have inserted a clause in the deal with Lille that the “transfer of Gabriel will only be confirmed following a 14 day cooling off period and negative Coronavirus test”.

COVID19 is a virus that attacks the lungs.

Imagine the scenario where Arsenal (or any other club) signs a player from France, and then 10 days after signing is admitted to hospital with COVID19.

The player is then on a ventilator, with the virus attacking his lungs.

With many people who contacted COVID19 months ago still reporting suffering with breathing problems, Arsenal could end up with a player who might never play for he club due to lung issues.

To protect themselves, Arsenal might be insisting that the Gabriel transfer has a “14 day cooling off period” between when it was agreed and when it is announced just to ensure he did not arrive with COVID19.

Remember, a COVID19 test does not confirm you have the virus, just that the virus is active within your body. The virus can take up to 14 days to activate and show symptoms (hence the 14 day quarantine).

Whilst Gabriel might not actually be quarantining (he has had his medical, etc), they might have decided on that 14 day cooling off period to protect their finances.

Note: David Ornstein has now confirmed that the delay on Gabriel’s transfer is due to him going under quarantine

Keenos