Manny Perez has confirmed that he can’t get a work permit to play for Celtic.
The young full-back was signed in January 2019 alongside Andrew Gutman but as non-internationalists from the USA neither was given a work permit.
Gutman joined Celtic for pre-season training in 2019 but while he could play in Austria and Switzerland he was unable to play in Scotland.
After two seasons on loan playing in the US Championship (second tier) with North Carolina the next step is important in his development but it seems unlikely that it will be in Scotland.
Perez told The Sun:
If I could get there tomorrow then I would get a flight. It would be a dream come true for me. I’m in love with Celtic. We have the best fans in the world. I have a Celtic TV account, so I’ve been keeping up with the games. If I can get my permit to go through, we can just move forward from there.
My agent and I are trying to sort things out, and have been in constant communication with the club. Hopefully we’ll be able to work it out soon. Our season ended about a week ago, so we’re just trying to get myself over there.
When Perez was on trial at Lennoxtown he was able to speak Spanish with Emilio Izaguirre and Cristian Gamboa but both of those defenders have moved on.
It seems unlikely that work permit regulations will be relaxed meaning that Perez and Gutman would realistically have to get some full international caps to get past the red tape that has put his Celtic hopes on hold. Perez signed a three year contract with Celtic.
