Arsenal's Arteta tests positive for Covid-19 for second time

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has tested positive for Covid-19 for a second time and will miss the Premier League clash with leaders Manchester City on Saturday, the club said.

The 39-year-old Spaniard's first positive test was in March 2020 which prompted English football to shut down as the pandemic took hold.

He is the latest Premier League manager to test positive in the last few weeks following Aston Villa's Steven Gerrard and Patrick Vieira of Crystal Palace.

A club statement read: "Mikel Arteta will miss our match against Manchester City on New Year's Day after testing positive for COVID-19.

"Mikel is isolating in line with Government guidelines and we wish him well."

Arteta -- whose side have rebounded from a disappointing start to rise to fourth place after winning their last five matches in all competitions -- is still expected to conduct his Thursday press conference.

"This is really disappointing," Arteta said, quoted by the BBC.

"I took the test after feeling poorly. I will be at work as soon as I'm allowed."

Arsenal have closed the club's London Colney training ground and club staff who had recent contact with Arteta will now self isolate.

Assistants Albert Stuivenberg and Steve Round will be in charge on match day.

The Gunners were without a number of players during their 5-0 win at Norwich on Sunday due to coronavirus, with Calum Chambers, Cedric Soares, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ainsley Maitland-Niles among those infected.

Arsenal's Premier League match against Wolves on Tuesday was postponed because their opponents had a surfeit of Covid cases.

On Tuesday England and Wales reported nearly 130,000 new coronavirus infections, a record daily tally as Omicron variant cases surge.

More Real Madrid, Barca players test positive for Covid-19

Four more Real Madrid players, and three from Barcelona, have tested positive for Covid-19, the two clubs said Wednesday as new infections hit record highs in Spain.

Real Madrid's Belgian keeper Thibaut Courtois, Uruguay midfielder Federico Valverde, French midfielder Eduardo Camavinga and Brazilian winger Vincius Junior are all infected, the La Liga leaders said in a statement.

A spokeswoman for the club declined to say how many players are currently infected with the virus but since mid-December eight other players have tested positive including Gareth Bale and Luka Modric.

Meanwhile Barcelona said its forward Ousmane Dembele, defender Samuel Umtiti and midfielder Gavi have tested positive for Covid-19.

"The players are in good health and self-isolating at home. The Club has reported the cases to the relevant authorities," it said in a statement.

The three players join left-back Jordi Alba, centre-back Clement Lenglent and defender Dani Alves, who also tested positive this week.

Barcelona, currently seventh in La Liga, travel to Real Mallorca (15th) on Sunday.

Several other Spanish clubs, including Cadiz, Real Sociedad and RCD Mallorca, have reported Covid cases but no match has yet been postponed.

Under Liga protocols, a club must have at least 13 players, at least five of them first-teamers and one a goalkeeper, available to play a match. 

Vaccinated players can return as soon as they test negative. 

This puts Sunday's match between Atletico Madrid and Rayo Vallecano at risk because the latter team has up to 17 infected players, according to press reports, making it the hardest-hit squad in the first division.

Spain on Tuesday confirmed a record 99,671 new infections in the last 24 hours, bringing the 14-day infection rate to 1,360 cases per 100,000 residents, nearly twice the level from a week earlier.