Percy Tau will play for Club Brugge this season after his English Premier League side agreed a loan move‚ but without the option for the Belgian club to purchase the Bafana Bafana star at the end of the campaign.
Brighton were hoping to have Tau in their squad for this season‚ but his work permit issues remain a stumbling block and he will instead be sent to Belgium for another season after an excellent 2018-19 campaign with second-tier Royal Union Saint-Gilloise.
If he features for Bafana in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and 2022 World Cup qualifiers over the next 12 months‚ it will strengthen his claim for a work permit at Brighton in the 2020-21 season.
Tau is reported to have agreed to the move on Thursday‚ as Brugge‚ who will play in the Uefa Champions League this season‚ beat off competition from a number of other sides in Belgium and outside.
For Tau it is a move that makes sense in that he is already used to Belgian football and living in that country‚ and so should be a seamless transition from Union.
The step up to the top-tier Jupiler Pro League is welcome‚ though‚ for one of South Africa’s best attacking talents currently.
Tau was named the best player in the Belgian second division last season after scoring 13 goals and adding a further 13 assists for Union in all competitions‚ which included a run to the semifinals of the Belgian Cup.
Brugge also needed to push through a loan agreement now as they race to get Tau registered for the Champions League‚ where they will take on Ukrainian side Dynamo Kiev in the third qualifying round on August 6 and 13.
Brugge have been Belgian champions on 15 occasions‚ second only to Anderlecht‚ and were runners-up to Genk in the last campaign.
They will be title contenders again under coach Philippe Clement‚ a former Belgian international defender who took Genk to the league title last season‚ but despite this moved on to Brugge.
Tau will not be the first South African to play for the club. Former attacking midfielder Elrio van Heerden had a successful three-year stint with the team between 2006 and 2009‚ before moving on to English Premier League Blackburn Rovers.
Percy Tau will play for Club Brugges in 2019-20
Image: Ahmed Hasan/Gallo Images
Percy Tau will play for Club Brugge this season after his English Premier League side agreed a loan move‚ but without the option for the Belgian club to purchase the Bafana Bafana star at the end of the campaign.
Brighton were hoping to have Tau in their squad for this season‚ but his work permit issues remain a stumbling block and he will instead be sent to Belgium for another season after an excellent 2018-19 campaign with second-tier Royal Union Saint-Gilloise.
If he features for Bafana in the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations and 2022 World Cup qualifiers over the next 12 months‚ it will strengthen his claim for a work permit at Brighton in the 2020-21 season.
Tau is reported to have agreed to the move on Thursday‚ as Brugge‚ who will play in the Uefa Champions League this season‚ beat off competition from a number of other sides in Belgium and outside.
For Tau it is a move that makes sense in that he is already used to Belgian football and living in that country‚ and so should be a seamless transition from Union.
The step up to the top-tier Jupiler Pro League is welcome‚ though‚ for one of South Africa’s best attacking talents currently.
Tau was named the best player in the Belgian second division last season after scoring 13 goals and adding a further 13 assists for Union in all competitions‚ which included a run to the semifinals of the Belgian Cup.
Brugge also needed to push through a loan agreement now as they race to get Tau registered for the Champions League‚ where they will take on Ukrainian side Dynamo Kiev in the third qualifying round on August 6 and 13.
Brugge have been Belgian champions on 15 occasions‚ second only to Anderlecht‚ and were runners-up to Genk in the last campaign.
They will be title contenders again under coach Philippe Clement‚ a former Belgian international defender who took Genk to the league title last season‚ but despite this moved on to Brugge.
Tau will not be the first South African to play for the club. Former attacking midfielder Elrio van Heerden had a successful three-year stint with the team between 2006 and 2009‚ before moving on to English Premier League Blackburn Rovers.
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