Manchester United players and staff ‘test positive for coronavirus’

Manchester United have returned a small number of positive Covid-19 lateral flow tests among players and staff on Sunday, the PA news agency understands.

United won 1-0 at Norwich on Saturday, with a late penalty from Cristiano Ronaldo. The whole group which travelled to Carrow Road had tested negative in last round of routine tests.

However, following the club’s next round of tests on Sunday morning, a small number of positive lateral flow tests were found among the players and staff. Those individuals were sent home before the start of training.

The rest of the squad trained outdoors and the schedule was adjusted to individual and non-contact sessions.

PA understands the Premier League has been notified of the lateral flow test results by United.

At this stage, it is not clear if Tuesday night’s match at Brentford will be able to go ahead as planned.

Tottenham have been hit by a coronavirus outbreak, which saw their scheduled Europa Conference League home clash against Rennes on Thursday night called off, as well as Sunday’s trip to Brighton.

On Wednesday afternoon, Spurs boss Antonio Conte revealed eight players and five members of staff had tested positive for Covid-19.

Norwich had lost at Spurs last weekend, and themselves were dealing with positive Covid tests within the squad ahead of Saturday’s match against United – with Greek forward Christos Tzolis reportedly one of those cases.

The Premier League works on a case-by-case basis and if a club does request a game to be postponed, it would be a decision taken by the board of the governing body.