Jurgen Klopp has hinted that Shinji Kagawa will make his Borussia Dortmund comeback against Freiburg on Saturday.
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Dortmund were dealt a blow on Sunday when Marco Reus sustained another ankle injury which will rule him out until early October.
Reus' absence means that Kagawa -- re-signed from Manchester United last month -- could be included in BVB's starting lineup at the weekend.
"We can't just wait a few more weeks. Shinji is immediately very important to us," Klopp told kicker.
Despite struggling to make an impact during his two years at United, Klopp believes Kagawa will succeed again back at Dortmund.
Klopp told kicker that the Japan international has made "a good impression" in training and "still has a lot of things stored on his hard drive."
However, the Dortmund boss warned that the midfielder will "not be as good as in his best match two years ago."
Kagawa's eight million-euro return from Old Trafford has been one of the rare positives for Dortmund of late, with the club having struggled with injuries for some time.
Jakub Blaszczykowski became the latest player on Wednesday to pick up an injury.
The Poland international had been working on his comeback following an anterior cruciate ligament injury suffered in January, but he revealed on Facebook that he now faces four more weeks out after sustaining a muscle problem.
Ilkay Gundogan, meanwhile, has said that he hopes to return to action in early October, providing he suffers no setbacks.
Earlier this week, the Germany international played for 35 minutes in a friendly against Dortmund's reserves, and is now hopeful he can continue on his path to recovery 13 months after suffering a serious back injury.
Gundogan told Bild: "Why shouldn't I play in all three stadiums [in the Champions League against Anderlecht, Arsenal and Galatasaray]? Anderlecht is the first match at the beginning of October, and if everything runs according to plan and the coach calls me up, I'd like to think that I can take part in that match."