The Southampton manager Ronald Koeman has confirmed that the Senegal midfielder Sadio Mané has been successful in obtaining a work permit and will join up with his team-mates on Friday.

Mané is still awaiting his Saints debut after joining the club from Red Bull Salzburg in an £11.8m deal, but will not feature against Swansea City on Saturday.

Koeman said: “Yesterday I got the message everything is done. The work permission is OK. He is flying back today and he will arrive tomorrow. It’s too close for Saturday.”

Koeman will assess 22-year-old Mané’s physical state before determining if the winger can feature against Arsenal in the Capital One Cup next Tuesday night.

“The last 10 days I don’t know what he did,” Koeman added. “It will be a good chance for him to be part of the squad for next Tuesday, for the League Cup game against Arsenal.”

Saints have no injury concerns after striker Shane Long overcame a head injury. “Shane is OK,” Koeman added. “He’s [been]doing training sessions for three days. He’s no problem for this Saturday. No injuries. Only the case of Mané.”

Mané’s type of transfer may not occur if the Football Association succeeds in tightening rules over non-European Union imports.

Koeman, though, defended Southampton’s impressive record of nurturing native English talent. “I’m positive to try in the country to do the maximum for the English players,” the Dutchman added.

“I think we do that in Southampton. If you look at the team, our squad, it’s a lot of English players, a lot of young players, maybe it’s more and more than the rest of the clubs.”