Helping hand for Celtic’s Elhamed

New Celtic signing Hatem Abd Elhamed has enlisted the help of Israel boss Andreas Herzog and sports director Willi Rotensteiner to help him secure a work permit for his move to Glasgow.

The Hapoel Be’er Sheva defender is expected to complete his £1.6 million transfer after arriving in Glasgow yesterday. But he has to be granted a work permit for the move to be completed and he will need to prove why he should be granted one because he has only been capped once by Israel.

Elhamed’s hopes of getting a work permit were boosted after Herzog and Rotensteiner both wrote to the SFA to champion his cause.

Former Austria star Herzog – who guided Israel to a 2-1 Nations League win over Scotland – has explained that Elhamed would have won far more caps for his country if it had not been for a previous car accident, which curtailed his appearances.

And they have pointed out that he’s been in squads too, without being chosen, until he finally made his international debut this summer in a Euro 2020 qualifier against Poland.

Hapoel manager Barak Bakhar admits Elhamed will be a huge loss for his team.

He said: “We are delighted for Hatem and are happy for our club because of the transfer fee.

“It is not every day that a player from Be’er Sheva makes such a big transfer to a huge club like Celtic.

“However, in terms of our squad, this is a massive loss and it will be very difficult to get along without him, but that’s football.”