Hoops face bidding war for Fortune

23 June 2009 09:58
The Hoops were initially only looking to part with £3million for the Nancy frontman, twice the amount that Tony Mowbray negotiated when he agreed to sign the 27-year-old during his time at West Brom just a few weeks ago. Hull City, Portsmouth and Wolves have all reportedly lodged bids effectively pricing the Old Firm club out of the market. However the player is said to favour a move to Celtic Park where he would be reunited with Mowbray after a successful loan spell at The Hawthorns towards the back end of last term. "We have accepted three separate offers all from English clubs," Nancy sporting director Nicolas Holveck told the Daily Record. "All are in excess of 4million Euros with add-ons one is approaching the 5million Euro mark (£4.2million). "We are also happy to allow the player to begin negotiations with these clubs and we expect the transfer to be formalised by Monday. "It is still possible he could move to Celtic but they have yet to make an acceptable offer." However reports in Hull claim that the Tigers have only bid £2.5million for the player while rumours suggest Celtic have also had a similar offer accepted. Hull City manager Phil Brown is hopeful he can secure Fortune's signature and ward off the attentions of Celtic by the end of the week. "We've spoken to the player, to his agent and to the president of Nancy and were very encouraged," he told the Hull Daily Mail. "Now we're awaiting an answer from the player that we're the favoured club ahead of Celtic. We're hopeful of getting something done, maybe that will happen this week. "But there's always that doubt in your mind that so long as he's out there, someone can be interested in him. He did well last season and endeared himself to the Premier League." "We're awaiting a nod from him now and hopefully that will be some time this week."

Source: Team_Talk