WOLVES have reportedly had their work permit appeal for Diego Costa accepted.
The former Chelsea and Atletico Madrid striker is now due to fly to England tonight to finalise his switch to Molineux.
His medical has already been arranged and now he looks set to pen a one-year contract to seal his return to the Premier League.
Spanish international Costa only missed out on the work permit by two points.
The 33-year-old had to gain 15 points on the Home Office’s points-based system to be given their blessing to play in the UK – but Costa fell just short with 13.
The main objection to the Brazilian-born forward’s bid to sign for Wolves centred around his lack of recent match-time at club level and recent lack of international appearances for Spain.
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Costa only made 19 appearances for his previous club Atletico Mineiro and hasn’t played competitively since December, prior to terminating his contract with the Brazilian club in January.
However the fact his initial application was rejected by such a narrow margin encouraged Wolves to push ahead with an appeal.
Now Fabrizio Romano has offered this update on Twitter: “Wolves appeal for Diego Costa’s work permit/appeal has been accepted.
“Diego will fly to England later tonight to discuss final details of the free transfer. Medical tests have been scheduled and it will be a key step to proceed — one year contract ready.”
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The Molineux club focused their appeal on the exceptional career Costa enjoyed and his pedigree as an elite athlete, which saw him perform at the highest level for club and country for over a decade.
Costa, who turns 34 next month, failed to meet the FA’s required threshold and failed to receive their endorsement but Wolves were always hopeful that they could bridge the gap as they supplied further evidence of the player’s unique situation.
They pointed out that Spain are currently ranked 6th in the world by Fifa and unlikely to recall Costa once he returned to the nation of his birth.
The Stamford Bridge legend is keen to answer Wolves SOS for a striker after new £15million signing Sasa Kalajdzic suffered an ACL injury on his debut against Southampton, which will sideline him for most of the season.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
