Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp has demanded more transparency within football amid the rise in coronavirus cases as he called out Manchester United and Tottenham over their secrecy on positive tests.
Klopp has not been afraid to discuss the situation and launched an impassioned plea for everyone to get their booster jabs as well as urging sceptics to listen to expert medical advice on Thursday.
And he went further in his pre-match press conference for Liverpool's clash with Spurs on Sunday, calling out 'strange' and 'misleading' secrecy on Covid cases in the Premier League.
'We don't have anything to hide,' Klopp said.
'Our most important concern is that the boys are healthy. If someone has flu and you ask me, I'll say he has flu. If he has a broken toe, I'll say he has a broken toe.
'It's difficult because one is a pandemic and the other one is an individual injury but still have to find a way to get through all this.
'I really think the exchange of information is pretty helpful because all the misleading, wrong information misleads a lot of people. Just say how it is and carry on from there.
'I know the anti-vaxxers will say Klopp said get the vaccine but now his players have the virus.
'But it makes it more unlikely you'll get it and even if you do get it, it means you can get through it in the right way.
'I think we should just talk about it, there are so many things out there that we just don't understand.
'Three players are probably not available. If they are available, we will say that.
'At Manchester United, I heard a number of players but I have no idea who are the players. I have no idea who had the virus at Tottenham. I don't know if that's necessary.
'If it's necessary to know who, is it necessary to know how many? But knowing nothing in a really public world is quite strange.'
Klopp has revealed they are still waiting to find out if Virgil van Dijk, Fabinho and Curtis Jones are unavailable after the trio recorded suspected positive Covid-19 tests.
The trio were forced to miss the Reds' 3-1 win over Newcastle on Thursday night as they were in isolation following suspected cases of coronavirus.
Klopp revealed that the club are still waiting for confirmation on whether the three have the illness and therefore whether they will be available to face Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday.
Klopp did confirm that the Merseyside giants have no new positive Covid tests ahead of training later today.
'It's not confirmed yet. It's an ongoing process,' he said in his pre-match press conference on Friday.
'They are fine. In this moment no-one else is positive but the players don't come here until later.'
All three are waiting the PCR test results which they took on Thursday, and they were therefore not considered by Klopp against Eddie Howe's men.
Blezzo
8
Klopp is right here. Clubs need to be transparent on this matter as matches are being suspended and other clubs are using this situation to rest their players. Number of infected players must be known at least.