Celtic to sign Kenyan Victor Wanyama after work permit appeal to SFA

CELTIC look set to complete the signing of Kenyan internationalist Victor Wanyama after a successful appeal was made to the Scottish Football Association over a work permit.

An independent four-man panel endorsed the player's application, which is now expected to be rubber-stamped by the UK Border Agency.

Wanyama's work permit application was automatically refused, as Kenya are ranked outside the top 75 countries in the world, at 130 on FIFA's latest list.

But Celtic convinced the panel that the player, who has 11 caps for his country, would make a significant impact on Scottish football.

An SFA statement read: "Following an appeal by Celtic FC on behalf of Victor Wanyama, the Scottish FA has today issued the club with a Governing Body Endorsement. The player must now complete his work permit application with the UK Border Agency."

Wanyama had a medical at Ross Hall Hospital in Glasgow yesterday following his successful appeal, which saw Celtic manager Neil Lennon plead his case via conference call from Australia, where the first-team squad are on a pre-season tour.

Lennon last week stated that Wanyama, who can play in midfield, had been signed predominately as a central defender.

The club confirmed a deal for the 20-year-old to join the club from Germinal Beerschot last week, in what is understood to be a 1 million deal.

Celtic play Perth Glory today in the second match of their Australia tour, looking for an improvement on their 1-0 defeat to Central Coast Mariners last weekend. Lennon's training regime has become more gruelling over the last few days as the bid to get ready for the new season gathers pace.

After today's match, Celtic play Melbourne Victory on Wednesday, with the Parkhead club confirming Greek striker Georgios Samaras as captain in the match as a tribute to the large Greek community in the city.

Lennon said: "We have enjoyed our visit to Australia immensely and we very much look forward to visiting Melbourne.

"We are very aware of the huge Greek community in Melbourne and thought it would be a fitting tribute for Georgios to captain the team on this occasion.

"One of the aims of our visit was to make new friends in Australia. We have done this in Sydney and Perth, having received a fantastic welcome in both cities.

"We are sure that we will receive the same reception in Melbourne and we thank all the fans in Australia sincerely for their continuing support."

Samaras said: "Being named captain for the game against Melbourne Victory is a real honour. Myself and all my team-mates are looking forward to this great occasion.

"I have a very strong family connection with Australia and it is an absolute privilege to visit such a great country again."

Meanwhile, Celtic winger Niall McGinn has signed a season-long loan deal at Brentford. The Northern Ireland international was left out of Celtic's squad for their pre-season tour of Australia and he has moved to the League One club to increase his chances of regular football. The 23-year-old has scored six goals in 36 appearances since signing for Celtic in January 2009.