The Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta has tested positive for coronavirus, the Premier League club have announced.
“Our London Colney training centre has been closed after head coach Mikel Arteta received a positive Covid-19 result this evening,” a club statement said.
“Arsenal personnel who had recent close contact with Mikel will now self-isolate in line with Government health guidelines. We expect this to be a significant number of people from Colney, including the full first-team squad and coaching staff.”
“This is really disappointing but I took the test after feeling poorly,” Arteta said. “I will be [back] at work as soon as I’m allowed.”
Having earlier declared that the weekend’s top-flight games would go ahead as planned, the Premier League have now called an emergency meeting for Friday.
“In light of Arsenal’s announcement tonight confirming that their first team coach Mikel Arteta has tested positive for Covid-19, the Premier League will convene an emergency club meeting tomorrow morning regarding future fixtures,” a statement said. “The Premier League will make no further comment until after that meeting.”
The Arsenal managing director, Vinai Venkatesham, said: “The health of our people and the wider public is our priority and that is where our focus is. Our thoughts are with Mikel who is disappointed but in good spirits.
“We are in active dialogue with all the relevant people to manage this situation appropriately, and we look forward to getting back to training and playing as soon as medical advice allows.”
Arsenal are now trying to trace any other people who may have had contact with Arteta. The team are due to play Brighton on Saturday, but their statement added it was “clear we will not be able to play some fixtures on their scheduled dates”.
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