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Earlier this week, India U-17 star Dheeraj Singh Moirangthem travelled to Scotland to give trials at Scottish Premiership club Motherwell FC and on his first day of training, he managed to impress the club's Chief Operating Officer and Director, Alan Burrows.
On Saturday, the Indian goalkeeper was a part of the Motherwell FC squad that visited Dundee FC's home ground, Dens Park, for a Scottish Cup tie. The club posted a video on their official Twitter handle where Dheeraj is seen alighting from the team bus alongside several first-team players.
Now, the player's agent has confirmed to Sportskeeda that coaches at the club have been impressed by Dheeraj's progress. He further confirmed that the youngster is training with the first team and might get a chance to prove his mettle in a friendly that the Motherwell reserve team is set to play next week.
On being asked if a contract has been offered already, Dheeraj's agent said, "We won't know about a contract until next week. As of now, he is training with the first team and they are very happy with his progress. Next week, he will probably get to play in a friendly and then they will take a final call."
Work permit issues
However, a few problems might crop up with regards to Dheeraj's work permit in the United Kingdom, if he is offered a contract.
The rules state: "Any player who is over 16 years old and is not from the European Economic Area, which covers 32 countries aside from the UK requires a work permit to play for a British club. For the Scottish FA to give their approval, the player in question must have played 75 percent of his nation's competitive games excluding friendlies in the two years prior to the date of application.
"Furthermore, the country the player is coming from must be in the top 70 of the FIFA rankings."
Neither is India in the top 70 of the FIFA rankings, nor has Dheeraj played in any competitive match for the senior national team. When inquired about the issue, his agent admitted that it might be a problem.
"Yes, there will be issues with regards to obtaining a work permit but we will think about it when we reach that stage. We have to go step by step, it's a learning process," he said.
