Joel Nathaniel Campbell Samuels will turn 20 years old in about a month, and he’ll have to wait only a few weeks before getting his well-deserved and most wished-for birthday present: to become a permanent gunner with the legendary Arsenal Football Club of the English Premier League.

Joel Campbell signed with Arsenal back in August of last year. He started playing in his native Costa Rica with Deportivo Saprissa as a minor and soon became a sensation, particularly in his international appearances in the CONCACAF Gold Cup and the Copa America. When negotiations with Arsenal had wrapped up, Mr. Campbell spoke to BBC News about the signing:

“It is a dream come true to play for such a big club in England and I want to do well for myself and Costa Rica. I am ready, and I am very happy to be here and I want to focus on doing well for Arsenal.”

Once he was signed to Arsenal, Mr. Campbell hit a significant snag: he could not get a work permit that would allow him to play in England right away. He was not the only Arsenal signing to face that obstacle: fellow striker Gilles Sunu from France was also unable to get the required immigration status, so they were both shipped off to the Football Club Lorient-Bretagne Sud in France.

Mr. Campbell has played 25 games with Lorient. He has scored four goals in the very competitive Ligue 1, France’s first division. He is the first player from Costa Rica to have scored on on French soil with a first division team.

In a recent interview with Arsenal.com, Mr. Campbell explained that playing on loan at the FC Lorient has been a worthwhile experience, but that it is difficult -even for a talented striker- to secure a place on the team:

“Gilles Sunu told me that when you come on loan it’s difficult because you know you’re not going to play the whole season or the following season, which makes it very difficult to keep your place. We have to show everything we can to play the maximum number of games.”

Pre-season training in the Premier League starts in July, and Mr. Campbell will join Arsenal then. All eyes in Costa Rica will be on him, as he is expected to score his first goal in England with a top-notch team soon after the season begins. On his Facebook Timeline, Mr. Campbell recently indicated that he was coming to his beloved Costa Rica soon.

In 2011, respected Italian sports publication Tuttosport nominated the young Tico to receive the coveted “Golden Boy” award, a distinction previously earned by Wayne Rooney and Lionel Messi. While the honor went to German player Mario Gotze of the Borussia Dortmund, Mr. Campbell was firmly established as a full-fledged international star.

At the end of last year, The Costa Rica Star published a rundown of professional Tico football players who shone abroad in 2011.