I signed Varela on a free after he'd been released by Manchester United. He was denied a work permit but I was allowed to sign him anyway. He'd already spent some time in Spain so I offered him for loan in the hope of getting a Spanish club to take him until he'd amassed enough days to get the work permit, but only South American clubs wanted to take him. I left the club and returned again a couple of seasons later and he was still there with no permit. So I sold him for £4 million and re-invested the cash into the team.
More recently, I was denied a work permit for the goalkeeper Denys Boyko but I still had the opportunity to sign him. I cancelled the deal, though, and switched my attentions to Joel Drommel of FC Twente (via Southampton).