Ibrahimovic in doubt for Milan derby after new positive virus test

AC Milan’s forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic from Sweden looks on during the warm up before the Italian Serie A football match AC Milan vs Bologna played behind closed doors on July 18, 2020 at the San Siro Stadium in Milan, as the country eases its lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the COVID-19 infection, caused by the novel coronavirus. (Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO / AFP)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic looks likely to miss the Milan derby this month after his club AC Milan announced Thursday that the veteran Swede had again tested positive for coronavirus.

Ibrahimovic, who went into quarantine two weeks ago when he first tested positive, must test negative twice before he can return to the Milan squad, whose next game is the derby against Inter at the San Siro on October 17.

Brazilian defender Leo Duarte, whose last test was also negative, is also continuing his quarantine. The rest of the players are all negative, the club said.

City rivals Inter have also been hit by COVID-19, with the club announcing on Thursday that midfielders Radja Nainggolan and Roberto Gagliardini had tested positive.

The two new Inter cases come a day after it was revealed that Slovakia defender Milan Skriniar and Italy under-21 international Alessandro Bastoni had also returned positive tests after joining up with their respective national teams.

Ibrahimovic first tested positive on September 24, prompting him to fire off a feisty tweet: “The COVID had the courage to challenge me. Bad idea.”

The 39-year-old has since posted on social networks a video of him training at home.

In spite of his absence, Milan have made a decent start to the season, having climbed to second in Serie A after winning all three of their games and reaching the group stages of the Europa League.

Ibrahimovic extended his contract with Milan by one year after a six-month stint last season.