Saturday Jul 28 2007 11:17
Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has confirmed that the club are waiting on an appeal for a work permit to allow Croatia striker Eduardo Da Silva to start his
Gunners career.
The 24-year-old faces an appeal hearing at the Home Office in early August, but Wenger is confident of being able to push through the deal for Da Silva.
He commented: "We've an appeal hearing on August 2 for his work permit.
"He has played in 50 per cent of the games for Croatia (in the last two years), which is a great achievement. He's played every game in the last year, so it'll be extremely close.
"There are some signings in England who didn't play even one game for smaller countries than Croatia. I'm optimistic that we have a reasonable chance."
Meanwhile, Wenger has vowed to ignore off-field uncertainty surrounding the Gunners and his own future at the club.
He added: "I think it's very important at the moment that the players and myself are very focused on what we want to achieve together.
"That means first of all I don't have to take part in the financial turmoil that people create around the club, but focus on what I'm responsible for and that means the policy and football that the club plays.
"I'll come out at the right moment to speak about the future, especially about my future.
"I can't announce things that aren't signed, or not done or not discussed. There's still one year to go and then we'll see where we go from there."
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