Arsenal's training ground has shut after club manager Mikel Arteta tested positive for coronavirus.

The Premier League club announced this evening that its London Colney training ground will shut for a deep clean.

The Colney site in Bell Lane is next door to Watford FC's training ground.

In a statement published on Arsenal.com this evening, the club said: "Our London Colney training centre has been closed after head coach Mikel Arteta received a positive COVID-19 result this evening.

"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.

"We will work with Public Health England on the next steps in regard to our facilities and staff, and with the Premier League, Football Association and relevant clubs around our forthcoming matches in the Premier League and Emirates FA Cup.

"It is clear we will not be able to play some fixtures on their currently scheduled dates. We will update supporters who have tickets for forthcoming games with more information as soon as possible.

"We are now working to trace any other people who have had recent close contact with Mikel. We will let them know what has happened and they should follow the NHS guidance which is likely to recommend self-isolation."

Mikel said: “This is really disappointing but I took the test after feeling poorly. I will be at work as soon as I’m allowed.”

This announcement comes just hours after the Premier League announced league fixtures would be take place this weekend, despite the government moving to the 'delay' stage as it tries to deal with the coronavirus outbreak.

However, an emergency meeting will take place in the morning, the Premier League has confirmed. 

The Department of Health said earlier today that as of 9am today, 590 people has tested positive for Covid-19.

18 of these 590 cases are in Hertfordshire.

But the government said today that 'at least 10,000 people in the UK could be affected by the virus'.

Ten people who contracted the virus have died, including a man in his 80s with underlying health conditions at Watford General Hospital.

Meanwhile, Watford FC's fixture against Leicester at Vicarage Road on Saturday lunchtime was thrown into doubt earlier today after the East Midlands club revealed three of its players had gone into self isolation after showing some symptoms of the virus.