Victor Wanyama is close to completing his move to Celtic after being awarded a work permit via an appeal.
Transfer now awaiting rubber-stamp from UK Border Agency
Kenya international Victor Wanyama has moved closer to completing his move to Celtic after being awarded a work permit via an appeal to the Scottish Football Association.
An independent four-man panel endorsed the African's application, which is now expected to be rubber-stamped by the UK Border Agency.
As initially revealed by skysports.com, Celtic confirmed a deal for the 20-year-old to join the club from Germinal Beerschot last week.
A Scottish Football Association statement read: "Following an appeal by Celtic FC on behalf of Victor Wanyama, the Scottish FA has today issued the club with a Governing Body Endorsement.
Impact
"The player must now complete his work permit application with the UK Border Agency."
Wanyama was on Friday afternoon undergoing a medical at Ross Hall Hospital in Glasgow following his successful appeal, which saw Hoops manager Neil Lennon plead his case via conference call from Australia, where the first-team squad are on a pre-season tour.
Wanyama's work permit application was automatically refused as Kenya are ranked outside the top 75 countries in the world, at 130 on Fifa's latest list.
But Celtic convinced the panel that the player, who has 11 caps for his country, would make a significant impact on Scottish football.
Lennon last week stated that Wanyama, who can play in midfield, had been signed predominately as a central defender.
