Given that pretty much only EPL teams can afford him, I won't be surprised if he preemptively applied for that visa just in case
That's the tourist visa. You can apply for that "just in case", but you would not have to go to your native country to secure it. You can get that in the UK.
In this case it is about the working visa. You can't apply for that unless The Minister of State for Employment had already received the paperwork necessarily to start the employment process.
English media reckon he's coming to EPL with Chelsea as front runners for his signature. Rumour is he favours a move here.
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So what I am trying to say is that it seems that one club in particular has sent the paperwork already and all the signs indicate it's Chelsea the club in matter. They are probably rushing this because of the upcoming holidays and want the paperwork to be done before that and have the player sign in the early days of the January transfer window.