Bruno Fornaroli is set to debut for Melbourne Victory against Newcastle exactly a week after his messy departure from Perth Glory, courtesy of new teammate Matthew Spiranovic's foot surgery.
Fornaroli completed a full training session on Wednesday and only needed to prove his fitness at Thursday's session to seal a squad spot for Friday night's game at AAMI Park.
The two-time Socceroo is eligible to play immediately as he has initially joined as an injury replacement signing for Spiranovic, who had a foot "clean-out" this week.
Fornaroli can play until Spiranovic returns from injury, but can properly join Victory in full in the January transfer window.
"Matt Spiranovic is on the injury replacement list, he had a bit of a procedure on his foot yesterday or the day before. So he'll be out for a little period of time," Victory coach Tony Popovic told AAP on Thursday.
"That opens the door for Bruno to be able to come in.
"We'll check all that today, that (Fornaroli's) available (for Friday).
"For us, we've decided that we'll wait and see after the session.
"He completed one full session yesterday. Obviously a lot has happened in the last 10 days or so.
"He's excited, he wants to play, the medical staff will assess him this morning and will check him again after training. Then we'll make a decision."
Last Friday morning, Popovic dismissed links to Fornaroli as a "rumour" but by that evening, he had departed Glory and by Monday the striker was a Victory player.
"Circumstances for players can change very quickly at their clubs and an opportunity was there for us," Popovic said.
"I know Bruno, I've worked with Bruno, we feel he's a great asset for our football club with his experience and the way in which he plays is a little different to the players that we have.
"So we're delighted he's here."
Fornaroli joins Nick D'Agostino, Nani, Chris Ikonomidis, Ben Folami and Tomi Juric in a stacked attack attempting to end a three-game goalless run.
Spiranovic is yet to play this season due to a problem Popovic said had been bothering him for a while and his absence is a blow to Victory's already-thin central defensive stocks.
But Popovic confirmed Victory should regain full-back Jason Geria, who has recovered from pre-season hip surgery, for Friday's game.
The 29-year-old is likely to return at right-back but can also bolster Victory's central options alongside Roderick Miranda, George Timotheou and veteran Leigh Broxham.
Skipper Josh Brillante will return from his red card suspension.
