Dybala tests positive for COVID-19

Juventus and Argentina soccer forward Paulo Dybala has tested positive for coronavirus but has no symptoms, the Italian Serie A club said on Saturday, making him one of the most high-profile players to be infected so far.

“The player, in voluntary home isolation since March 11, will continue to be monitored,” the Turin club said in a statement. “He is well and asymptomatic.”

He is the third player at the club, one of the biggest in Europa and Italy’s most successful in domestic terms, to test positive after midfielder Blaise Matuidi, a World Cup winner with France in 2018, and defender Daniele Rugani.

Italy is Europe’s worst-affected country by the coronavirus and the death toll has leapt by 793 to 4,825, officials said on Saturday.

Around a dozen Serie A players have been reported as testing positive with Sampdoria and Fiorentina the other clubs affected.

The 26-year-old, nicknamed ‘the Jewel’, joined Juventus from Palermo in 2015 and has won a Serie A title in each of his seasons at the club. He has played 29 times for Argentina.

Dybala said on Instagram that his fiance had also tested positive. “Luckily, we are in perfect condition,” he said.

Hi everyone, I just wanted just to inform you that we have received the results for the Covid-19 test and both Oriana and I have tested positive. Luckily we are in perfect conditions. Thanks for your messages.

— Paulo Dybala (@PauDybala_JR) March 21, 2020