Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to make his second debut for Manchester United when Newcastle come to Old Trafford on Saturday, but he may have to wait a little longer for his first start.
Ronaldo, who sealed his move back to United on deadline day, is yet to arrive at the club as he was away on international duty at the time and has since been in quarantine, having left the Portugal camp early to speed the process up.
He touched down in England this weekend to begin a five-day isolation period, which will leave him free to meet his new team-mates and join them in training on either Wednesday or Thursday, assuming there are no problems with his COVID-19 tests.
That could give Ronaldo three full days of training with the squad, and the decision on whether he starts Saturday's game will be left to manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The boss was in no rush to introduce new signings Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane to the starting lineup earlier this season, so there is a chance that Ronaldo begins the game on the bench, although he could still start - this is CR7 we're talking about.
Fans will still get a good look at their new signing even if he does not play, as he is expected to be presented to the Old Trafford faithful before the game,
Should Ronaldo miss out against Newcastle, his first start could come during the week, with United set to travel to Switzerland to take on Young Boys in the Champions League on September 14.
Fitness is not going to be a problem. While his involvement with Juventus was limited at the start of the season, he did play the full 90 in Portugal's 2-1 win over Ireland earlier this month, bagging both of his side's goals.
He has been training at home while in isolation to ensure that his fitness levels do not drop, so should Ronaldo not feature against Newcastle, it will likely be because of a tactical concern from Solskjaer, who wants his new signings to get up to speed with the rest of the squad before throwing them in at the deep end.
Source : 90min