Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo breaks Covid-19 lockdown rules in Argentina as he smokes and plays cards with friends in video uploaded to Instagram by his brother

Manchester United defender Marcos Rojo has been filmed smoking while playing poker with friends in breach of the coronavirus lockdown in his native Argentina.

Rojo, currently on loan at Argentine club Estudiantes, was filmed by his brother Franco, who then uploaded the clip into his Instagram account. The video was quickly deleted but not before Argentine media outlets saw it.

The 30-year-old centre-back left Old Trafford to join his boyhood club during the January transfer window but this apparent breach of discipline could land him in hot water.

The gathering of friends around Rojo looks to be a breach of Argentina's lockdown rules, which were recently extended by president Alberto Fernandez until May 10.

A nationwide mandatory quarantine has been in place since the middle of March though some restrictions were relaxed - with people allowed to go within 500 metres of their home for exercise.

However, it doesn't permit visits from other people, certainly in the groups shown in the video. 

There have been almost 5,000 recorded cases of coronavirus in Argentina and 237 deaths as of this weekend.   

His brother also got Rojo into trouble a day earlier when he posted an Instagram image of them having a kickabout with friends in the park.

To compound matters, Rojo was wearing the shirt of Estudiantes' rivals Boca Juniors with the name and No 10 of legendary player Roman Riquelme on the back.

However, Rojo has also done some good during the lockdown, delivering food and drink to more than 200 families in his home town of La Plata last month.

Rojo's brother also uploaded this image of the player having a kickabout with friends despite lockdown restrictions - and also wearing a Boca Juniors shirt 

Rojo was deemed surplus to requirements at Old Trafford by United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in January having started just one Premier League game all season.

He played just the one league game for Estudiantes prior to the shutdown of the Argentine league but had already expressed his wish for the loan to be extended.

Rojo said: 'If it depends on me, I will speak to Manchester United's management about the possibility of staying here for another six months.

'I will feel a tremendous sense of pain if I have to leave after playing in so few matches.'