Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola could be handed a major boost as Gabriel Jesus is expected to get clearance to make his debut against Tottenham Hotspur.
City announced the signing of the 19-year-old last August with the intention of taking him to England from Palmeiras in January, with The Guardian noting that they splashed out £27m for his services.
The Brazilian international has been training with his new teammates for three weeks, but the issue has been that his third-party ownership situation meant that the FA needed to carry out its due diligence protocol in order to give him the green-light to play.
According the report, it would seem as though Guardiola is edging ever closer to receiving that permission to play him, with a decision expected on Thursday morning.
In turn, it would result in having Jesus available to feature against Tottenham this weekend, a game which City will be desperate to get a result in as they look to bounce back from their disappointing defeat at Everton last time out.
Although it’s highly unlikely that their Brazilian starlet will start the game, he will hope to make the squad and possibly feature at some point as Guardiola will hope that he can prove to be an astute signing who can play a pivotal part in City’s push for silverware in the coming years.
Nevertheless, his Spanish coach has to think more short-term for this one as Tottenham have been in excellent form in recent weeks and will provide a stern test as they look to pile further misery on their Premier League title rivals.
Having trained for almost a month with his teammates and gotten familiar with them, Jesus will hope to prove his fitness and show that he is ready for his first taste of English football.