World Cup stars Ilie Dumitrescu and Marc Hottiger were facing exile from the English Premiership yesterday after having work permit requests rejected. Both players will appeal.

They have fallen short of the requirement for foreign players who must appear in 75 per cent of their club's first team fixtures to qualify for a new work permit. West Ham have agreed to pay Tottenham £1.5 million for Romanian Dumitrescu, while Everton are set to buy Switzerland's Hottiger from Newcastle for £800,000.