I looked on Wikipedia last night and it said he had joint French and Senegalese nationality. If that's true - and I know it's on Wikipedia - then why wouldn't the French nationality be enough for him to play straight away?
International clearance, because it's an international transfer. You're getting confused with work permits, it seems.
Don't think we're too bad going forward, creating chances. Attacking from mid-field is the teams strength. Its at the other end that will sink us.. defending from mid-field and the back line... genuinely poor. Our ability to switch off individually and collectively through out the game is alarming at this level.
Think the 4-5-1 formation will work in many games. Hopefully Thiam is a striker that can play that formation and can be clinical.