Multi-million Manchester City forward sees work permit rejected – Player now unable to register

One of Manchester City’s highly-rated South American talents has seen a work permit application rejected by a Home Office commission, according to a new report.

That concerns 21-year-old Argentine forward Dario Sarmiento, who joined Manchester City’s project in a £5.2 million deal in July 2021 from Estudiantes. The then-teenage talent joined Girona on loan for a season.

However, despite the player undoubtedly having long-term ambitions of forcing his way into Manchester City’s first-team plans, factors outside of his control have seemingly prevented that from happening.

That is according to the information of Football Insider, who report that Dario Sarmiento’s work permit application was rejected last week by a Home Office commission, now meaning that he will be unable to register as a Manchester City first-team player.

Football Insider have also pointed out within their report that the Football Association were contacted on Wednesday 17 April on the matter, but chose to issue no comment on Sarmiento’s situation.

Sarmiento’s situation follows an identical path sustained by Brazilian international midfielder Douglas Luiz during his association with Manchester City, after he originally penned a five-year contract with Pep Guardiola’s side in July 2017.

Having been sent on loan to Girona for one season in August 2017, Luiz was forced to return for a second season in Spain after the UK Home Office denied him a work permit upon returning to Manchester City one year later.

Fortunately for Luiz and his top-level career hopes, that did not stop his development and the now-25-year-old has gone on to become a huge success with Aston Villa and subsequently attract attention from some of Europe’s biggest clubs.

Arsenal are known to be keen admirers of Douglas Luiz, while some have even tipped Manchester City to come back in for a player they once saw as a potential first-team star for Pep Guardiola’s squad.