Sunderland boss Steve Bruce admits he is losing patience in the bid to bring full-back Marcos Angeleri to the Stadium of Light.
The 27-year-old Estudiantes player has been training with the Black Cats in recent days, but the club are still waiting for the Argentinian to receive an EU passport, which he qualifies for through his father.
And Bruce said: “With Marcos, the big problem when you are trying to sign them, of course, is work permit issues.
“He has got an Italian father and he is waiting for an Italian passport. We were told a month ago it was going to be here within 10 days.
“That’s obviously a concern to me because we were told we were going to get it three weeks ago and it’s still not here.
“We will look at it and we will have a conversation again with his agents and see where we end up.”