Grant hopes bond forged with Fortune lures striker north

Published on Friday 19 June 2009 22:45

CELTIC first-team coach Peter Grant has confirmed the club's interest in signing French striker Marc-Antoine Fortune.

The 27-year-old Nancy player spent the second half of last season on loan at West Bromwich Albion and is currently attracting interest from English Premier League clubs Fulham and Hull City.

But the new Celtic management team of Tony Mowbray, Mark Venus and Grant are hopeful that the relationship they established with Fortune at The Hawthorns could prove decisive in their pursuit of the 2.5million-rated forward. "Marc-Antoine is saying he would love to come here and obviously he is one of those players we would be very interested in if he was available and affordable," said Grant. "There's no doubt about that."

Wolves appear to have cooled their interest in the player. Fortune's agent, Michael Manuello, confirmed: "I have not heard from Wolves for a long time. The club has to make an offer and we have been patient."

Fortune, who scored for Nancy at Fir Park last season as they knocked Motherwell out of the Uefa Cup, netted five times in 18 appearances for West Brom as they failed to avoid relegation from the Premier League.

"He is a top quality player and we were very impressed with him last season," added Grant. "People say he hasn't got a fantastic goalscoring record, but if you look at the goals we scored from midfield after he came in, he was phenomenal for us in the role he played in goals the other lads got.

"He has a great ethic about him, in training as well as playing. He is a fabulous man in the way he goes about his business. It was a privilege to work with him.

"Marc was playing for Nancy and a lot of people were talking about him, but we took a chance on him. We gave him the opportunity to come to the Premier League.

"Once he was there, he saw the way we train and coach every day. You have to be at your maximum; we make sure everything is done properly and professionally. He and the rest of the players understood that."