Patrick Roberts could make his Sunderland debut next weekend against Bolton Wanderers after joining from Manchester City.
The 24-year-old winger has moved to the Stadium of Light on a deal until the end of the season.
He had been at City since 2015 when he was purchased from Fulham, but made just three appearances for the first team since then.
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His time at the club has been characterised by several loan spells, including Celtic, Girona, Norwich City, Middlesbrough, Derby County and Troyes.
He has now joined Lee Johnson's side but did not play a part in the weekend 1-0 victory over Portsmouth.
But Johnson expects Patrick to be on the bench for next weekend's trip to the University of Bolton Stadium, if he comes through training well.
Speaking to the Northern Echo, Johnson said: "He’s (Roberts) not too bad (in terms of his fitness). He was chomping at the bit, wanting to be on the bench (against Portsmouth).
"We had a big discussion, quite a strong debate between all of us in terms of the football side of things and the physical department. The head of performance and sports science were all involved.
“I think the biggest problem is that he’d probably been idle for six or seven days while this was all being sorted out. We felt that with the tempo, and the way we expect our team to play, it probably wasn’t the right game.
“Therefore, we’re planning to give him eight or nine days of effective work, but I would hope that if it runs smooth, he would potentially be available for the bench next week.”
