Confirmed Transfer Kamal Sowah to Brugge

[Jeff]

Leicester City Football Club can confirm that midfielder Kamal Sowah has joined Belgian side Club Brugge for an undisclosed fee, subject to international clearance.

The 21-year-old signed for City from Ghanaian-side Right to Dream in January 2018 and has spent the past three-and-a-half seasons on loan at OH Leuven.

He made his debut for the Belgian Pro League-side in April 2018 in a 2-0 win against Waasland-Beveren and scored his first goal in a 4-0 victory over KSV Roeselare in September 2019.

During his time at King Power at Den Dreef Stadium, he made 72 appearances in all competitions, scoring 13 goals, and helped OHL seal promotion to the highest tier of Belgian football – the Jupiler Pro League - in 2019/20.

He leaves with the best wishes of everyone at Leicester City Football Club

 

[Micky]

Fee of 6.8 million according to Rob Tanner.

 

[TommyK]

We need a right winger desperately, so I can only assume he's not good enough. He certainly didn't look fantastic in preseason.

 

[Micky]

 

[Blue Maniac]

If he’d stayed, surely there’s no way he would have got a work permit anyway?

 

[Jeff]

If he’d stayed, surely there’s no way he would have got a work permit anyway?

He played for us in pre-season.

 

[Blue Maniac]

He played for us in pre-season.

I must have missed something then. Did he already have one pre-Brexit? I feel fairly sure he didn’t have one this time last year.

 

[Graz]

I think players without work permits can still play in pre-season. Having a look at the rules it's hard to find an exact answer, but it sounds like the work permit just needs to be produced with the league registration when the clubs registers its squad at the start of the season.

 

[Jeff]

I think players without work permits can still play in pre-season. Having a look at the rules it's hard to find an exact answer, but it sounds like the work permit just needs to be produced with the league registration when the clubs registers its squad at the start of the season.

Surely it's an immigration law thing though, rather than a football rules thing?

If he's in this country working, it shouldn't make any difference what the work is.

 

[Blue Maniac]

The only thing I can think of is he got a Belgian passport and he was eligible because he was registered to City before Brexit. Thought that might take longer though, he’s only been in Europe 3 years.

 

[tedfoxxx]

Didn’t thingy Gleeson jump of that tower in In Brugge?

Great film that.

 

[Blue Maniac]

Didn’t thingy Gleeson jump of that tower in In Brugge?

Great film that.

Brendan. Hard name to remember, I get it.

 

[tedfoxxx]

Brendan. Hard name to remember, I get it.

Ta babe x

 

[Graz]

Surely it's an immigration law thing though, rather than a football rules thing?

If he's in this country working, it shouldn't make any difference what the work is.

You'd have thought so, but there's plenty of other weird contract law that applies in football but not elsewhere and vice versa, so it could be one of those.

 

[Jeff]

Brendan

It's Brendgan.

 

[Jeff]

I think players without work permits can still play in pre-season. Having a look at the rules it's hard to find an exact answer,

Here's the exact answer. From the FA website:

"A club must obtain a GBE from The FA before a Player is permitted to undertake any employment duties for the club (including participation at training and in friendly matches). A Player can register for a club without a GBE but, in order to play any football, he must have obtained a GBE, been assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship by that club and secured leave to remain under Tiers 2 or 5 of the PBS (subject to satisfying any other eligibility requirements of The FA and any competitions the club participates in)."

 

[Graz]

Here's the exact answer. From the FA website:

"A club must obtain a GBE from The FA before a Player is permitted to undertake any employment duties for the club (including participation at training and in friendly matches). A Player can register for a club without a GBE but, in order to play any football, he must have obtained a GBE, been assigned a Certificate of Sponsorship by that club and secured leave to remain under Tiers 2 or 5 of the PBS (subject to satisfying any other eligibility requirements of The FA and any competitions the club participates in)."

Then he must've had a work permit after all.

£9m is a decent fee for someone who we've never used.

 

[Jeff]

Then he must've had a work permit after all.

Looking at the rules (assuming I've understood them), it looks like his appearances for OHL last season earned him enough points to get a work permit.
The rules are here: https://www.thefa.com/-/media/files...teria/gbe-mens-players-criteria-jan-2021.ashx

 

[Jeff]

£9m is a decent fee for someone who we've never used.

I think it's euros rather than pounds.

 

[Robin127]

Didn’t thingy Gleeson jump of that tower in In Brugge?

Great film that.

My wife always refers to the city as ****ing Brugge after seeing the film.