South African striker, Tokelo Rantie, has been granted his United Kingdom visa and is now free to make his Bournemouth debut, should his head coach give him the nod.

It was reported recently that, even though Rantie had been given a work permit for the UK and his international clearance had gone through, he was in a race against time to get his visa before this weekend’s game against Blackpool.

Read: Rantie’s Race Against Time

Their head coach, Eddie Howe, has since confirmed that the 23-year-old has got his visa, but explained that he’s not sure if he’ll make his debut on Saturday. He told Hot Radio, “It’s a difficult situation and I will have to make a late decision.

“It’s not ideal that he hasn’t met his teammates and vice versa, so we will have to wait and see what happens.”

Rantie played for Bafana against Botswana in the 4-1 FIFA World Cup qualifier win last weekend, having secured his move to The Cherries last month for a club record transfer fee from Swedish club Malmo FF.

By Joe Crann



Follow Joe on Twitter: @YesWeCrann