Lukaku to join Belgium squad after testing negative for Covid-19

Romelu Lukaku has tested negative for Covid-19 and has travelled to Belgium for their World Cup qualifiers, Belgian officials confirmed on Monday.

The 27-year-old’s participation in the squad was uncertain after an outbreak at his club Inter Milan saw four players test positive and Saturday’s match against Sassuolo postponed.

But Lukaku tested negative for coronavirus late last week and did so again on Monday, granting him permission from the city’s health authority to leave Milan.

The striker, who was also named in Roberto Martinez’s original squad, will now team up with the national team ahead of matches against Wales, Czech Republic and Belarus.

On Friday, Martinez had conceded Lukaku was far from certain to feature for Belgium, but his inclusion comes as a timely boost to a squad who will be without Real Madrid’s Eden Hazard and midfielder Axel Witsel.

Hazard, the Belgium captain, is unavailable as he continues to battle a persistent ankle injury that has required two operations.

Belgium host Wales in Leuven on Wednesday at the start of their Group E, World Cup 2022 qualification campaign, before the Red Devils take on the Czech Republic in Prague on Saturday and Belarus at home on March 30.