New Rangers man Fashion Sakala can't wait to get started after watching on through 10 days of quarantine as his new team-mates took to the pitch.
The Zambian international signed a pre-contract deal to move to the Premiership champions at the end of last season but is yet to make his bow.
The striker was on holiday after the end of the Belgian season and then had to quarantine for 10 days before he could begin linking up with Steven Gerrard 's squad.
He could make his debut in the friendly with Arsenal on Saturday though, and the 24-year-old can't wait to get going.
Sakala told Rangers TV: "I’m very happy and excited. I was looking forward to start this beautiful journey when I signed. The only thing I wanted was to be here.
"I’m very happy and excited, I’m looking forward to continuing a beautiful and exciting journey.
"I can’t wait to start tomorrow. I’ve been on vacation for some days and then I came here and I was in quarantine for 10 days so it was quite difficult but I was positive about it.
"I’m still looking to get back to full fitness and I believe that I’ve started a lot because I was doing individual training. I’m looking forward to starting with the group and I believe something good will come out of it."
The situation has meant that Sakala hasn't even met his new team-mates yet, another strange side effect of pandemic football.
He continued: "That’s the most exciting part. I was doing it alone today but I was thinking about tomorrow and meeting the whole group here. That’s what I’m looking forward to.
"It’ll be nice to meet them in person. When I came here, players were texting me when I was at the hotel, sending messages to me and that was nice.
"People from the club were talking to me every day and I wasn’t bored at all. Meeting them in person tomorrow will be very nice and I’m looking forward to it."
Players like Leon Balogun who signed last summer have never experienced fans at Ibrox, but for the new man his first appearance could be in front of the fans, albeit in limited numbers.
Sakala said: "I feel like it’s time to start playing football now. I’m very happy to make this step to be here and play every week in such a beautiful stadium with a great history.
"It’s always nice to have fans in the stadium. Football is for the fans.
It’s always nice to play with fans and I’ve watched a couple of games before Covid and there was a great atmosphere here with the fans.
"It’s amazing. This club is loved and it’s a club for the people so I’m looking forward to playing in front of the fans and the atmosphere."
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