Probobly nothing in this from Clubcall but

Defender linked with Bridge

Chelsea, 14:23, November 10, 2008

Chelsea are set to take a close look at South African right-back Jeffrey Ntuka-Pule with a view to a January swoop.

Ntuka-Pule has been a long-term target for the club but they were unable to get a work permit for him five years ago and the deal to bring him to Stamford Bridge collapsed.

However, the player has since become a Belgium citizen after playing for Westerlo and the Blues are ready to take another look at him with there being no work permit issues.

Ntuka-Pule is only under contract until the end of the season and Blues boss Luiz Felipe Scolari will be able to take him for nothing if he decides to pursue a deal.

I don't think I've ever heard about him. But surely we don't need him, unless he's a very young talanted player.

I remember seeing the lad on Chelsea's squadlist in one of the more recent Football Manager games, and all I remember is that he was always very unhappy about not getting matches but I was unable to play him as I was unable to get a work permit for him. So basically I know absolutely nothing about him... ;)

Sounds like a tropical disease, and no, we don't need another right-back

I remember seeing the lad on Chelsea's squadlist in one of the more recent Football Manager games, and all I remember is that he was always very unhappy about not getting matches but I was unable to play him as I was unable to get a work permit for him. So basically I know absolutely nothing about him... ;)

Phew, good to know at least you are on it, Maksimov

I'm pretty sure we already own him.

It's the same arrangement with Westerlo as we had with PSV over Alex (and now Radjkovic).

For a non-EU player to get a work permit in England, you have to play a certain percentage of international matches for your country (something like two-thirds of the available internationals over 12 months).

That means, if we want to sign a promising youngster from outside the EU, we can, but they won't get a work permit to play in England unless they are already an established international.

The way around this has been to sign the player, then immediately loan them to PSV/Westerlo/whoever where the work permit laws aren't as strict. Then when they have the required number of international caps under their belt, we can sign them whenever we want (assuming they are good enough).

he has been a chelsea player for many years now!

he was just loaned out!