Bruno Guimaraes has explained that he missed the Tyne-Wear derby between Newcastle and Sunderland after being diagnosed with mumps. The Brazilian missed the game through injury, but was not spotted in attendance at St James' Park as the Magpies fell to a 2-1 loss.

He has now explained that he is instead in isolation, with the midfielder explaining a scary situation on the way back from Barcelona last week. Guimaraes was desperately missed as Newcastle once again came off second best against their arch-rivals, who now sit one place above them in the Premier League table in 11th.

Posting on his Instagram stories to explain his absence, he wrote: "The only reason I'm not at the stadium in Newcastle is that after our flight back from Barcelona, I noticed my face was swollen and thought I was having an allergic reaction.

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"But the next day when I woke up, I realized it was much more than that. I sent a photo to the doctor and he came to examine me.

"It was confirmed that I have mumps, and I need to remain in isolation for 5 days and stay away from physical activities for a bit longer. My focus now is to recover and be 100% as soon as possible."

Things started well for Newcastle in the derby, with Anthony Gordon capitalising on a mistake in the Sunderland backline to put his side 1-0 up after just 10 minutes. However, second-half goals from Chemsdine Talbi and Brian Brobbey turned the game around and condemned Eddie Howe's side to a 2-1 loss.

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Guimaraes has missed the last five Premier League games after suffering a hamstring injury back in February. He was, however, on course to step up his recovery with the Brazil squad over the international break with an eye on making his comeback against Crystal Palace.

Whether his diagnosis will now impact that plan is currently unknown and may be dependent on how long he has to be in isolation and his recovery.

Mumps is a contagious viral infection that primarily affects the salivary glands, causing painful swelling in the cheeks and jaw. Caused by the mumps virus, it spreads through saliva or respiratory droplets, causing fever, headache, and muscle aches. The NHS states that most people with mumps get better after two weeks but can somtimes cause other problems.

The 28-year-old, meanwhile, was in the news this week after links with a move to Manchester United in the upcoming summer transfer window emerged, thought, they have been brushed off by Howe.

"I don't even know how to respond to that, I don't even think I should because it's a waste of my energy," he said.

"I’m not going to be impolite because I don’t think it’s the forum to do that in. For me it’s a nonsense story.

"Bruno’s our captain, he’s fully committed. He’s injured at the moment, his only focus is coming back to fitness. For me, it is not the time to think about it.

"In the summer, you can understand those stories a little bit more because the transfer window is open. To say our captain is in discussions with another club is totally disrespectful to Bruno more than anything else. He's totally committed here."