Leeds set to sign Japan midfielder ... but there's a catch | OneFootball

Leeds United have agreed to sign Japan midfielder Yosuke Ideguchi from Gamba Osaka in a deal reportedly worth about £500,000.

But not so fast.

Although details of the length of his contract are still unknown, one thing is for sure: Ideguchi will join Thomas Christiansen’s men in January, but will have to be sent out on loan in Europe immediately as he will not yet be eligible for a UK work permit.

Yorkshire Evening Post journalist Phil Hay explains that “Ideguchi won’t qualify immediately for a work permit under FA rules so will be loaned abroad in January to the end of the season.”

Ideguchi simply needs to have clocked the required number of games in order to receive a work permit and join Leeds’ first team on a regular basis.

The 21-year-old midfielder said: “If I go, I think that this is a place where I can learn and improve as a player. I want to go early.”

“Some have said that it is better to wait until after the World Cup.

“But I want to go my own way and go as soon as possible.”