Aston Villa boss Steven Gerrard insists he will have to be patient and will only "unleash" Philippe Coutinho on the Premier League when he's ready.
Gerrard brought his former Liverpool teammate back to England after a nightmare two-and-a-half years with Barcelona.
The Brazilian toiled after ditching Anfield for Camp Nou and even a loan spell at Bayern Munich was unable to reignite his career.
The lure of working with Gerrard again brought him back to the Premier League though as he penned a loan deal until the end of the season.
And former Rangers boss Gerrard, who also landed Lucas Digne from Everton, says he will wait until the time is right to thrust him into action.
Gerrard admits Coutinho isn't quite up to speed just yet and the Birmingham Mail note he is likely to start on the bench against Manchester United this weekend.
But Gerrard says he's not far away. He said: "He’s not match fit because he’s been doing a lot of individual training at Barcelona and he also had a Covid situation.
"It’s great to have him, it’s my job to get him settled in and enjoying his football again.
"I’m sure there's a lot of football left in this boy because for me, he’s a fantastic talent and we’re lucky to have him. At the right time, he’ll be unleashed.
"Philippe's trained for three days now with no issues. We obviously have to build his match sharpness and match fitness up.
"Lucas is slightly different. He's been involved in group training for quite some time and he's been available for Everton before he arrived.
"So, yeah, they're both available selection with the group and they're both in a good place but, obviously, decisions will come off the back of information we've had of both players over the last couple of days."
