The Lion of Judah is here – Brighton recall Percy Tau
In the name of the Lion of Judah, amen! After two-and-a-half years, the dream has finally come to pass – Percy Tau is a Brighton & Hove Albion player following the granting of a British Work Permit to the striker.
The South African international was originally signed for £2.5 million from Mamelodi Sundowns in the summer of 2018. Since then, he has spent time on loan with Union Saint-Gilloise, Club Brugge and Anderlecht as Bafana Bafana’s lowly FIFA world ranking meant that he could not qualify for a work permit without racking up appearances in one of Europe’s big leagues.
Changes to the qualification rules brought about in part because of Brexit came into force on January 1st. To balance out the difficulty English clubs now face in signing young players from the EU with freedom of movement no longer existing in the United Kingdom, the FA relaxed the rules for players coming to the country from outside of Europe. Good news for Brighton and good news for Percy Tau.
During his 30 months in the land of strong beer and nice cheese, Tau racked up an impressive haul of honours. He played 35 times across all competitions with SG Union in 2018-19, scoring 13 times and notching 15 assists on his way to being named Player of the Season in the Belgian second tier.
The Lion of Judah moved to Club Brugge for 2019-20, where he experienced Champions League football for the first time. Tau turned out 30 times for Club, scoring four and assisting eight goals.
He ended the campaign with a Jupiler League winners medal, Club’s first Belgian title since the 2016-17 season when a certain Jose Izquierdo was one of the stars at the Jan Breydel Stadium.
In the summer just gone, Tau signed for Anderlecht to work under Vincent Kompany, scoring four times in 14 games.
The former Manchester City defender has been gushing in his praise for Tau, telling Kickoff.com: “Percy is a player with a top-level football brain. On top of his talent and his ability on the ball, Percy works hard, so that’s why we’re a good match.”
“He’s a talented player that works hard and has the right attitude towards his teammates. Within our team, it’s easy for him to improve. It’s easy for him to show his better side, but none of it would be possible without his willingness to work.”
“When you see Percy for the first time in training, straight away you think he’s an artist, someone who likes the beautiful gesture, the beautiful dribble. He’s an artist with an edge, which is exactly the reason why I value him so much.”
“It’s a mix of his talent and his hard work and for me, that’s a non-negotiable, and that’s why he fits in really well with our team.”
Brighton sensibly included a recall option in Tau’s loan with Anderlecht, avoiding a repeat of the farcical process they had to go through last January when attempting to recall Alexis Mac Allister from his spell at Boca Juniors after the Argentinian was granted a surprise work permit.
With no clause stating that Mac Allister could be summoned back to England, the Albion instead found themselves having to negotiate a fee with Boca in order to sign their own player.
The arrival of Percy Tau to the Premier League will be greeted with euphoria in South Africa. His fellow countryman have been bombarding every post made by Brighton on social media with all kinds of weird and wonderful comments, GIFs and photos as rumours began to spread that a positive work permit decision was imminent.
If Tau ends up being half as good as our newfound South African’s friends strength of feeling for him is, then Brighton will have quite a player on their hands. We will be sticking a fiver on the Lion of Judah winning the 2021 Ballon d’Or.
Of course, it would also be very Brighton & Hove Albion to have spent two-and-a-half years waiting for a striker to get a work permit, bringing him to the club amongst huge fanfare, only for him to turn out to be not very good.
But even if that does turn out to be the case, the deal will be worth it just for the entertainment the Tau Fan Club have brought to Facebook and Twitter.
After 30 months of asking where Percy Tau is, the Lion of Judah is finally in Brighton. Bring on the Premier League title. Bring on the Champions League. In the name of Percy Tau, amen!
