Leeds United have just sealed their tenth signing of the summer transfer window with the arrival of Swedish defender Pontus Jansson, but, according to Belgian publication Voetbal Primeur, signing #11 could be just around the corner.
Published earlier today, their website says that the midfielder in question that has been mentioned as being linked to Leeds United is none other than KV Oostende’s South African Andile Jali with Voetbal Primeur saying about the Bafana Bafana midfielder that, “probably he begins a new adventure in the Championship at Leeds United.”
Jali has been at current club KV Oostende since the end of the January 2014 transfer window, signing from South African side Orlando Pirates for a fee around the £1m mark according to website Transfermarkt. Since being at the Belgian side, 26-year-old Jali has made 51 Jupiler Pro League appearances, scoring one goal.
The Matatiele-born midfielder is also a 33-cap South African international, scoring twice for the Bafana Bafana in a career that started in 2010 with a three-minute cameo against Zimbabwe and has continued with his last game being a full 90 minutes against The Gambia in group 13 of the Africa Cup of Nations qualification tournament.
Soccer Laduma do draw a line of caution to any potential deal between KV Oostende and Leeds United for the South African defensive-minded midfielder. This caution is in regard to the newly imposed work permit regulations on foreign players with any incoming players having to have matched a certain percentage of national side appearances over a 24-month period relative to their side’s national ranking – with 50th ranked being the cut-off for an automatic granting of a work permit.
Currently, South Africa are ranked 63rd in the world by FIFA, meaning that if Leeds were to pursue a deal for Jali that it would need to be down the alternative channel of an ‘Exceptions Panel’ where a points-based system is used. In this points-based system of ‘Primary Points’ and ‘Secondary Points’; with a player needing to gain more than four Primary points or more than five combined Primary/Secondary points in order to considered for recommendation of a work permit.
