West Brom: Brown Ideye granted work permit to play for club

West Bromwich Albion's new record signing Brown Ideye confirmed that his work permit has now been granted.

The Nigeria striker, 25, signed from Dynamo Kiev in July for an undisclosed fee, believed to be about £10m, but had been unable to fly to England due to delays in processing his visa.

Ideye has not been able to take part in any of Albion's pre-season friendlies.

“The British High commission called my club to inform them that I have been issued the visa,” Ideye told BBC Sport.

“I've been training here all the while but now my bags are packed and I'm ready to join the team in England ”

Brown Ideye
He added: “This is a positive news. I'm close to my phone waiting for the call to let me know when it's ready for pick up.”

“I would like to thank my club officials and the high commission staff for their effort to get it sorted.”

“I've been training here all the while but now my bags are packed and I'm ready to join the team in England.”

Ideye missed a pre-season friendly against Nottingham Forest last week and will miss Tuesday's match against Port Vale.

The striker has already said he will struggle to be fit in time to make his Premier League debut at home to Sunderland on 16 August.

In 2013 Ideye helped his country clinch their third Africa Cup of Nations title

“I need to join the team first then train with the squad in front of the manager and so far I have not been able to do that,” he added.

The Super Eagle has scored 74 goals in 182 career league appearances. He has played in both the Champions League and Europa League and has scored five goals in 24 appearances for Nigeria.

In 2013 he helped his country clinch their third Africa Cup of Nations title, scoring in the 4-1 semi-final victory over Mali.

A member of their 2010 World Cup squad in South Africa, Ideye was omitted from the Nigeria squad that reached the second round at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

BBC