Arsenal have confirmed head coach Mikel Arteta received a positive COVID-19 result on Thursday evening.
The news comes shortly after the Premier League confirmed all fixtures slated for the upcoming weekend will go ahead despite the coronavirus outbreak halting football across Europe and the rest of the world.
The club’s training ground will now be closed and those who have been in contact with the former midfielder will self-isolate.
A statement on the Gunners’ website reads: “Our London Colney training centre has been closed after head coach Mikel Arteta received a positive COVID-19 result this evening [Thursday].
“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, as well as a smaller number of people from our Hale End Academy which we have also temporarily closed as a precaution.
“We expect those who did not have close contact with Mikel to return to work in the coming days. In the meantime our Colney and Hale End training centres will undergo a deep clean and our other club sites are operating as normal.”
Arteta said: “This is really disappointing but I took the test after feeling poorly. I will be at work as soon as I’m allowed.”
The Premier League have since announced an emergency meeting will take place on Friday in light of Arteta’s diagnosis.
Their statement reads: “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.
“The Premier League will make no further comment until after that meeting.”