'Dab to beat coronavirus' - Pogba's message amid Covid-19 outbreak

Paul Pogba has urged his Instagram followers to "dab to beat coronavirus" as he issued an update on social media amid the global Covid-19 crisis.

The Manchester United midfielder posted an image to his social media account on Friday that urged people to use the dab celebration that had become synonymous with the France World Cup winner.

The text accompanying the picture read: "We must all be ready for coronavirus. Dab when you cough, dab when you sneeze, dab to beat coronavirus. Follow @WHO advice to Be Ready for #COVID19."

The coronavirus outbreak has become a global crisis, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) having declared that Europe is the "epicentre" of the pandemic, with more than 132,500 people having been diagnosed worldwide as of Friday evening.

Sport has inevitably been hugely affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, with the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1 and many other top-flight leagues across Europe and globally having been postponed.

Indeed, the Premier League announced that they hope to resume with the competition on April 4, although there is no guarantee they will be able to stick to that schedule given the precarious nature of the situation.

Teams in England's top-flight are still due to play nine - 10 for Manchester City, Arsenal, Sheffield United and Aston Villa - matches in the 2019-20 campaign and it's unclear how the Football Association would proceed should there be further delays or even the season being cancelled.

 

 

 

 

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#Dab to beat #coronavirus. Follow @WHO advice to Be Ready for #COVID19

A post shared by Paul Labile Pogba (@paulpogba) on Mar 13, 2020 at 7:02am PDT

Pogba, meanwhile, had been expected to return to first-team action for United, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirming that the Frenchman trained with the Red Devils this week.

The former Juventus star, who has been linked with a return to the Serie A champions, has missed the majority of the season due to various ankle issues, making just eight appearances in all competitions thus far this season.

Despite the speculation over his long-term future at Old Trafford, Solskjaer has insisted that the expectation is that the 26-year-old will still be a United player next season.

Should the Premier League get back underway in three weeks' time, United would be due to face Brighton & Hove Albion at the Amex Stadium on April 4 and potentially with Pogba back in the squad.