David Martindale admits the process of applying for a work permit for French midfielder Djibril Diani is taking longer than expected but says he’s confident the move to Livingston will be approved.
The 23-year-old signed on loan from Swiss second tier outfit Grasshopper Zurich earlier this month and the gaffer admits he’s been surprised by the process, with the Covid pandemic making it even more time consuming.
Speaking to the Courier, Martindale said: “Djibril’s now got his governing body endorsement from the Scottish FA. We received that on Friday.
“We’re now working our way through the Home Office portal to get the work permit which is obviously new to ourselves and it’s a bit daunting.
“It’s nowhere near as easy as we thought it would be.
“We thought it would essentially be a formality once we got the endorsement from the governing body – and I think it probably will be a formality and it will get approved – but it’s going through that process.”
He added: “I don’t think there’s many clubs gone through it during Covid.
“Usually you’d go through and get an interview and a test but all that is going to have to get done on Zoom and we don’t really know when that will happen or how long it will take.
“It’s a frustrating process for everyone, but it’s what needs to be done.”
