Victor Lindelof misses Man Utd’s Newcastle trip after testing positive for Covid

Lindelof was substituted after suffering breathing difficulties during the 1-0 win over Norwich in United’s last outing on December 11, though United said at the time that was not thought to be related to the Covid-19 cases that forced the closure of the club’s training ground.

Lindelof, who was given a heart monitor to try to get to the bottom of the problem, was said by the club to have been recovering well, but he now faces a period out after contracting Covid-19.

Manager Ralf Rangnick said on Sky Sports: “We resumed for training last Tuesday and, on Thursday, we had almost the whole team apart from Paul Pogba.

“Unfortunately, Victor Lindelof tested positive yesterday so he cannot play, but the good thing is we have Raphael Varane available again and that’s why he’s in the starting line-up.

“I would say since last Tuesday, and even more so since last Thursday, we had two or three training sessions on a very high, good level before we had to close down Carrington, as you know, for four days because, before that, we had only eight outfield players.

“In the last three or four days, we had some good training sessions.”