Kagawa Move Hits Late Snag

Shinji Kagawa’s dream move to the Premier League could be in danger due to work permit issues, according to Goal.com.

The Japanese international has only one year remaining on his current contract and has made it clear he has no intention of extending his stay with the Bundesliga champions.

Goal.com report that Manchester United were closing in on signing the 23-year-old after tabling a £13.6m bid last week, with personal terms thought to be nothing more than a formality.

However, the transfer could be in danger of collapse after it emerged that Kagawa has played in less than 75% – the required amount in order to gain a work permit – of internationals in the past three years.

Despite being a key figure in the Borussia Dortmund side in recent years, Kagawa has not featured as prominently for his country and wasn’t selected in Japan’s 2010 World cup squad. The Blue Samurai have three games coming up, but even if Kagawa was to feature in all of them, he would still fall short of the required mark meaning his application for a UK work permit would be rejected.

Manchester United would almost certainly appeal that decision and call for a permit on the grounds of ‘exceptional talent’, and would draw confidence from the fact that Arsenal were successful when they appealed the decision for fellow Japan international Ryo Miyaichi.