Percy Tau during the FIFA Club World Cup 5th Place match between Jeonbuk Hyundai and Mamelodi Sundowns at Suita City Football Stadium on December 14, 2016 in Suita, Japan.
Percy Tau: Will work permit issues stall his EPL move?
Another potential hurdle awaits.
Percy Tau during the FIFA Club World Cup 5th Place match between Jeonbuk Hyundai and Mamelodi Sundowns at Suita City Football Stadium on December 14, 2016 in Suita, Japan.
Percy Tau’s pending move to the English Premier League has already endured a few hurdles and the Mamelodi Sundowns man is in line for another potential headache, should his club and Brighton and Hove Albion finally agree on a deal.
After weeks of wrestling, the 24-year-old was given the green light to finally realise his dream of playing in Europe by club chairman, Patrice Motsepe, who instructed his club’s management to accept a hefty R50 million offer from the Seagulls, which would see him become the most expensive player ever to come out of South Africa.
Concerns about whether the diminutive striker would be able to obtain a UK work permit – given Bafana’s lowly ranking – have been raised, but according to a report published by Sport24, the process is far from complicated.
Read: Kaizer Chiefs new coach: Safa boss insists Baxter is staying put
What is required for Percy Tau to obtain a work permit?
Tau, with his 11 league goals and ten assists from last season, may just have talents to thank for the lengths at which Brighton is seemingly willing to go for a player from outside the European Union.
As things stand, the player will need a work permit for the deal to be completed and will need to meet certain criteria for it to be granted.
Of the requirements stated by the Premier League, one is that he will have to have played a certain percentage of his national team’s fixtures in the last two years.
Read: Five coaches who could replace Baxter at Bafana Bafana
Bafana Bafana is currently ranked 74th in the world, meaning Tau will have to have played in at least 75% of the side’s most recent games.
In this regard, he is in good stead as he has appeared in all but one of South Africa’s 11 most recent games.
His five international goals in this period will surely not hurt, as one of the conditions is for the club to prove that the player will indeed be able to make a contribution to the sport.
Read: Percy Tau named among the world’s most influential footballers
