Will being a starter for them for the whole season mean he'll get enough points for his work permit?
Work permits are required for players outside the EEA.
The player in question needs to have played in a certain percentage of their nation's first team games that they were available for selection over the previous 2 years (12 months if the player is 21 or under). The percentage required changes based on the nation's FIFA Ranking as follows:
Rank 1-10 need to have played 30% of games.
Rank 11-20 need to have played 45% of games.
Rank 21 need to have played 60% of games.
Rank 31-50 need to have played 75% of games.
Players that fail this can still get a work permit on appeal provided they accumulate 4 points from the following criteria:
3pts - The value of the transfer fee being paid for the player is in the top 25% of all transfers to Premier League clubs in the previous 2 windows.
3pts - The wages being paid to the player by the applicant club is in the top 25% of the top 30 earners at the club.
2pts - The value of the transfer fee being paid for the player is between the 50th and 75th % of all transfers to Premier League clubs in the previous 2 windows.
2pts - The wages being paid to the player by the applicant club are between the 50th and 75th % of all the top 30 earners at the club.
1pts - The players current club is in a 'Top League' and the player has played at least 30% of available domestic league mins.
1pts - The player’s current club has played in the group stages or onwards of the Champions League, Europa League or the Copa Libertadores within the last 12 months and the player has played in 30% or more of the available domestic league minutes.
If the player fails to get 4 points, there is a secondary criteria (basically a relaxed version of the first critera) they can get additional points from but the required number of points raises to 5. Each criteria in this section only gives 1 point each.
So based on all of that, I don't see how he qualifies unless he is currently on 3 points based on his wages, which seems unlikely. He may have 2 points. I doubt Cyprus counts as a top league.
