The France and Paris Saint-Germain forward Kylian Mbappé has tested positive for Covid-19 and will miss the Nations League match against Croatia, the French football federation has announced.
“Kylian Mbappe will not play in France v Croatia [on] Tuesday evening at the Stade de France,” an FFF statement said. “His Covid-19 test carried out by Uefa on Monday morning revealed a positive result. He was isolated from the squad after receiving the results at the end of training, and returned home in the evening.”
The statement added that Mbappé had provided negative tests before joining the squad, and before Saturday’s Nations League game against Sweden, where he scored the winning goal.
Mbappé is thought to be the seventh PSG player to test positive for Covid-19, with the other cases picked up by the club’s pre-season testing. The Ligue 1 champions begin their title defence on Thursday at Lens – a match in which Mbappé will now not be available to play.
The Manchester City players Aymeric Laporte and Riyad Mahrez have also tested positive for coronavirus. Both men are self-isolating as City prepare for their opening game of the new Premier League season against Wolves.
Laporte, who is Pep Guardiola’s defensive linchpin, and the forward Mahrez could be available as the trip to Molineux is on 21 September, in a fortnight’s time – the maximum period for quarantine, according to government rules. It is unclear when each player began quarantine, and thus when they can resume training with Guardiola’s squad.
Thank you for all the nice messages, I'm good. Stay safe everyone take care of you 👍🏼👍🏼 https://t.co/cXICpDEOry
— Riyad Mahrez (@Mahrez22) September 7, 2020
A club statement on Monday said: “Manchester City FC can confirm that Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte have tested positive for Covid-19. Both players are currently observing a period of self-isolation in accordance with Premier League and UK government protocol on quarantine. Neither is displaying symptoms of the virus. Everyone at the club wishes Riyad and Aymeric a speedy recovery ahead of their return to training and the new season.”
