How Greenwood and Lukaku are getting on in Turkey: Fenerbahçe v Roma is also their match

There were never any real doubts, given what Greenwood did in his two seasons in France with Marseille. But the roughly €40 million Fenerbahce paid to bring him to Istanbul has already looked money very well spent.

Mason has made a superb start to his adventure in Turkey. He has played as a right winger in Ismail Kartal's 4-2-3-1, although against Roma the former Manchester United man could move more centrally as a No 10, with Dorgeles Nene deployed wide in his place.

So far, Greenwood has made 10 appearances. With a top-class scoring rate and attacking impact: the Englishman has already scored four goals, including one in the first leg of the play-off against Lyon and another in the previous round against Sturm Graz, adding a couple of assists to the tally.

Saturday's derby defeat against Besiktas, the one involving the Skriniar-Vlahovic row, was a rare game in which Greenwood failed to make an impact. He still stayed on the pitch for the full 90 minutes. After only a very brief settling-in period, though, he had already nailed down a starting place and has held it without question.

The funny thing is that Greenwood came close to missing Fenerbahçe v Roma, a match that was clearly a special one for him after what happened in the summer. And not because of an injury.

UEFA fined the Englishman €30,000 for his part in the brawl that broke out at the end of Lyon v Fenerbahçe, the match that sent the Turks into the single Champions League group. The fear, though, was that he would be forced to miss his debut against Roma.

In reality, Greenwood also received a one-match ban. But it was suspended. UEFA announced a few days ago that the suspension was deferred "for a probationary period of one year starting from the date of the present decision".

Lukaku will be there too, that much is certain. But not from the first minute. That has been the pattern so far, with a slow and gradual integration into his new surroundings.

The former Napoli centre-forward is coming off a season in which he barely played. A serious injury suffered during training camp a year ago was to blame, followed by a slow recovery and fresh physical problems towards the end of the league season that caused tension and friction with his former club.

In Istanbul, Lukaku got a star's welcome, Fenerbahce's answer to Osimhen and to the future arrival of Vlahovic at Besiktas. But up to this point he has played very little. And always coming off the bench. He has made 5 brief appearances, the latest on Saturday in the derby against Besiktas: zero goals scored, and the same applies to assists.

Against Roma, then, another old Serie A acquaintance will lead Fenerbahce's attack: Vedat Muriqi, the former Lazio man, with the scent of a derby after the two years spent in the biancoceleste shirt. The Kosovan arrived in June from Mallorca and has scored three times so far, one of them away to Lyon.

This is what his manager, Ismail Kartal, had to say about Lukaku in mid-August, with his job on the line after defeat to Besiktas and another loss to Roma carrying the risk of dismissal:

"Lukaku is a really positive lad. He is a great worker and a good professional. He speaks six languages. He said that in three months we will be speaking Turkish together. He is a self-confident player. At the moment he has a few shortcomings, but I will include him in the squad for tomorrow's match (his debut against Lyon, ed.). He is not yet at 100 per cent, but he is a very brave and determined player. He is very positive. We signed him so that we could count on his contribution. He is a very experienced and strong player. At the moment he has no weight problems, he only has a few stamina issues, but we will sort them out in a few weeks."

For now, Lukaku still needs a bit more time before he is back to his best. Only then can the former Roma and Italy player truly compete with Muriqi for Fenerbahçe's centre-forward spot.

If Lukaku is the former Roma man and Greenwood their almost former player, Fenerbahçe have plenty of other familiar Serie A faces too. Among them is former Inter defender Milan Skriniar, who is expected to partner Aké in central defence.

Matteo Guendouzi definitely will not be there, another player who, like Muriqi, would have brought a whiff of the derby. The reason is the same as Greenwood's: the brawl after the return leg against Lyon. Only the former Lazio man, unlike his team-mate, was banned and will not be able to take to the pitch on Thursday night.

Guendouzi was handed a €50,000 fine and a four-match ban "for having insulted other people present at the match, provoked spectators and violated the fundamental rules of good conduct". Two of those four matches have been suspended for a year. The Frenchman will only be able to make his Champions League group-stage debut in the third match. So there will be no clash with "enemy" Paulo Dybala.