Cavani to miss Uruguay's September internationals

The 34-year-old was scheduled to join up with Oscar Tabarez’s side ahead of upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Peru, Bolivia and Ecuador.

The last of those clashes kicks off at 23:30 BST on Thursday 9 September, so Edinson would not have returned to Manchester until Friday afternoon at the earliest, with the home game against Newcastle United taking place the following day.

Uruguay is one of several South American countries currently on the UK government’s COVID-19 ‘red list’ too, meaning travelling players would have to quarantine for 10 full days upon their return, further complicating the situation.

On Tuesday, Premier League clubs unanimously decided not to release players for international matches played in red-list countries in September, a decision thought to affect almost 60 players in the division.

The Uruguayan Football Association now seems to have taken this statement into account, cancelling Cavani’s inclusion in the squad. He was the only England-based player selected by Tabarez.

Edinson made his first appearance of the campaign for United on Sunday, coming on as a 53rd-minute substitute during the Reds’ 1-0 win at Wolves.

‘El Matador’, who has scored 53 goals in 123 appearances for his national side, represented Uruguay at the summer’s Copa America in Brazil.

He scored in wins over Bolivia and Paraguay, before the 15-time winners were eliminated by Colombia on penalties at the quarter-final stage.