Barcelona new signing among 15 players to be affected by stomach bug on US tour – report

Barcelona were supposed to kick off their pre-season later tonight in the United States of America with a friendly encounter against Italian giants Juventus.

However, the club officially confirmed a while ago that the match had been cancelled after an outbreak of a stomach bug within the squad that had left a number of players indisposed.

“FC Barcelona hereby informs that the game against Juventus FC, scheduled for today, July 22 at 7:30 PM at Levi’s Stadium, as part of the Soccer Champions Tour, has been cancelled. A significant part of the Blaugrana squad has viral gastroenteritis,” the official statement from the club read.

Now a report from Cadena SER has provided an update on the condition of the squad and the number of players that have been affected by the stomach virus.

As per the report, around 15 footballers from the squad have caught the stomach bug, along with several members of Xavi’s coaching staff, although the manager himself is understood to be in good health.

As for the identities of the players affected, the report claims that new signing Oriol Romeu is among the names, along with the likes of Jules Kounde, Alejandro Balde, and Eric Garcia.

Romeu had signed for Barcelona only this week, arriving on Wednesday, right before the squad flew to the United States. It was expected that the 31-year-old could get a chance to feature for the Blaugrana tonight against Juventus, but that is no longer a possibility.

The report states that Kounde fell ill a day after arriving in the US, i.e., on Thursday itself before Balde became sick with the bug on Friday.

And it has seemingly continued to spread within the squad, eventually forcing the club to call off the match as there would have been a serious risk of injury if they went ahead with a limited number of players, given that this was the first match of the pre-season tour.

Barcelona are scheduled to play Arsenal next on their tour, with the game taking place on Wednesday.

“It’s a tough blow. I hope the players recover soon,” president Joan Laporta said, speaking of the situation.