Manchester City's new recruit Antoine Sibierski is set to make his first appearance for the club on Sunday in a friendly against Barcelona.
Manager Kevin Keegan has completed the paperwork in a stg£700,000 deal with Lens for the French midfielder.
However he opted not to use Sibierski last night in the 4-0 defeat of Rochdale at Spotland.
"It would have been unprofessional to let him play, having just jogged around with us in the warm-up " said Keegan.
"We will have a look at Barcelona and see how his training and fitness are this week."
Sibierski is seen as a replacement for playmaker Ali Benarbia, who quit the club to continue playing in Qatar.
Keegan added: "Antoine has Champions League experience and had been captain at Lens.
"He was desperately keen to come to England and play in the Premiership and he has now got his wish. The rest is up to him."