Former Manchester United star Shinji Kagawa is set to be thrown straight into the deep end by Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp, with the German side needing him to play this weekend after the injury woes of Marco Reus continued during the international break, as reported by Goal.com.
The Japan international is now in line to play again for the club where he first made his name, despite only making the switch to Signal Iduna Park shortly before the transfer window closed.
Kagawa struggled to impose himself at Man Utd, and the German club jumped at the opportunity to bring him back to the Bundesliga, where he impressed considerably before his move to the Premier League.
With Reus injured again, having suffered from a fierce tackle by Scotland’s Charlie Mulgrew, Klopp is insistent that Kagawa needs to play this weekend, despite an initial plan to allow him to settle back into the side.
Klopp said: “We cannot afford to wait for a few more weeks before we bring Kagawa.
“Shinji will be very important to us right away. He has made a good impression on the training pitch in the past few days and has shown that he still has plenty to offer – although we realise that we cannot expect Shinji to be back to his former best from two years ago right away.”
Van Gaal has previously promised that he would give players four weeks to impress him before making a decision on their futures, but he seems to have already made his mind up somewhat about Kagawa’s place in the squad.