The 25-year-old has been forced out of Real Madrid's La Liga fixture with Espanyol on Sunday due to the revelation and reports suggest he could be out for up to six weeks.

Carvajal was recently named in Julen Lopetegui's 26-man squad for Spain's final two World Cup qualifiers against Albania and Israel this month but now has been omitted from the squad and will miss both ties.

Madrid confirmed the surprising news in a club statement at the weekend.

It read: ''Following tests carried out on Dani Carvajal, he has been diagnosed with a viral pericardium infection. His recovery will continue to be assessed.'

The full-back has previously played every minute for Zinedine Zidane's side in La Liga this season and played the whole 90 minutes in their Champions League victory over Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday.

Carvajal had so far played every available minute at right-back. The 25-year-old is a youth product from Los Blancos and has been an automatic starter for years.