TONY Mowbray has firmly ruled out making a move for Derby County winger Kris Commons after the player was linked with Celtic earlier this week.
Derby were even compelled to issue a statement which denied a formal bid had been received from any club for the Scottish internationalist. Although Mowbray is a fan of the player, he is not on his radar at present. "I am not sure where that has come
from," he said. "He is not a player we have discussed. It's the power of TV I would suggest. The whole world believes something if it runs across their TV screens. As the guy who makes those decisions at this football club, it brought a light smile to my face. It is not something we have thought about or discussed. If I was I was a supporter I wouldn't believe it either."
Rather more likely to happen is the arrival of Nancy midfielder Landry N'Guemo on a season-long loan. The Cameroon internationalist did not join the squad on the trip to Australia yesterday, but Mowbray hoped the deal might be wrapped up by the time they return to Scotland next week.
"Landry N'Guemo is a not a Celtic player as we sit here today," he said. "There are always things that can go wrong and can crop up at the last minute and muddy the waters. Until it is done, best not to get too deep into it."
New signing Marc-Antoine Fortuné is hopeful his former team-mate can join him in Glasgow as soon as possible. He described the 23-year-old as AS Nancy's best player and expressed surprise that he was being allowed to leave on loan. "I have played with him for two years," said Fortuné. "He is a good player. He has good technique. For me, he is the best player at Nancy. It will be good if he can come to Celtic. He can both defend and attack. He has good acceleration with the ball. I am surprised Nancy are letting him go."
Meanwhile, Mowbray is confident there will be more movement on the transfer front, with players exiting as well as arriving. Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Paul Hartley have already been released at the end of their contracts. "I would anticipate over the summer there might be some more movement in and out," he said.
"There is the potential for one (N'Guemo] to come in the next day or two. There will be a potential for the coming and going of football players. I am not sitting here thinking I am going to get rid of this one and this one and this one.
"We have only been on the training field for three or four days. What I will say is they are a very focused group of players who train very hard. They are getting on with their job."
The full article contains 494 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
