Sadio Mane has received his work permit and should arrive at Saints tomorrow, but is unlikely to feature against Swansea this Saturday.
The Senegalese winger, who signed in a £10m deadline day deal from Austrian side Red Bull Salzburg, has been awaiting clearance to fly to England to join up with his new team.
That finally came through yesterday, with Mane set to arrive in the coming hours.
He is unlikely to be involved this weekend, though, with a debut in Tuesday’s Capital One Cup visit to Arsenal a more realistic prospect.
Saints manager Ronald Koeman said: “Yesterday, I got the message of (executive director) Les Reed that everything is done, the work permission is ok.
“Normally he is flying back today and he will arrive tomorrow morning very early, but it’s too close for Saturday.”
Koeman said he will speak to Mane about his physical condition when he sees him tomorrow, and is hoping to involve him at the Emirates Stadium next week.
“Normally it will be a good chance for him to be part of the squad for next Thursday, for the League Cup game against Arsenal,” he said.
Koeman also confirmed that Shane Long has been training for the past three days, after overcoming a head injury that he suffered in last week’s 4-0 win against Newcastle, meaning there are no fitness concerns ahead of the trip to Wales.
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