End of road at Celtic for Hartley and Vennegoor of Hesselink

JAN Vennegoor of Hesselink and Paul Hartley have become the first casualties of the Tony Mowbray era at Celtic after being allowed to leave the club.

Their contracts have expired as of the first day of this month and Mowbray yesterday confirmed they have been permitted to move on. Bobo Balde is another who has left the club, but given his recent inactivity, and the fact he has only featured 14 times in the last three seasons, he was not expected to feature in Mowbray's plans.

The new Celtic manager is hopeful he can begin adding to the squad this week with the capture of Marc-Antoine Fortune from Nancy. Mowbray worked with the French striker when he was on loan at West Bromwich Albion last season and, while the player is keen to team-up with his former manager, more lucrative contract offers from Premier League clubs in England have put the move in jeopardy.

More clear-cut are the cases of Hartley and Vennegoor of Hesselink. Both players are very much of the Gordon Strachan era at Celtic and had their seasons disrupted by injury during the last campaign. Their release does not constitute a surprise, though Mowbray was quick to pay tribute to Hartley, who has been linked with a return to Hearts. Mowbray, who spent over two years in charge at Hibernian, first encountered Hartley during his time with the Tynecastle club.

"I have had a good few conversations with Paul," said Mowbray. "Paul is going to go and look at other options. I will tell you now that I found him a very decent man. My only real workings with Paul in the past is when he has been banging in goals for Hearts against Hibs. I found him a very honourable man and a very good professional. He understood my job. They were very amicable discussions. I wished him well on whatever he decides to do."

By contrast, Mowbray has had no contact with Vennegoor of Hesselink and simply assumes the Dutch striker is in talks with other clubs. He was signed by Strachan in 2006 and scored 34 goals in 63 league appearances. While this represents a healthy ratio, he never totally convinced the supporters in his three seasons at the club.

"I have had no conversations with Jan," revealed Mowbray. "As far as I can see he is a free agent and he is within his rights to go and look for employment. I have had no conversations with him but I think it's a done deal he is not coming back."

Mowbray clearly regards Fortune as the ideal replacement for Vennegoor of Hesselink. A £3.8 million fee has been agreed between Celtic and Nancy so it is now just a matter of Fortune weighing up his options. The fact Mowbray is already well known to the player could help tip the balance in Celtic's favour, but the manager was also alert to the fact that the offer of better personal terms elsewhere could see Fortune return to English football.

"We have come to an agreement with his club but the boy does have options, and is a little bit torn at the moment," explained Mowbray.

"His first choice would be to come here and play – he is very aware of the Celtic history and tradition, and I would like to think he quite likes the coach. But he has a couple more Premier League clubs chasing him. He now has that eternal battle between making the football decision or the financial decision. I would never judge anyone on that. It is a very difficult decision to make.

"It will be done in the next day or two, one way or the other. If he did come here I would say to you that he will have given up far better options financially. He has had some very attractive offers. I sit here today hopeful but also realistic. If he goes elsewhere I would say 'good luck' to him. He is a good man. I would not sit here and say he is a money-grabber. He came into the game at 21 and played in the Dutch league for a few years and earned very little money. He is now at the stage of his career where he needs to secure his future after football.

"From our conversations he would love to come and play for this club, with its tradition, supporters and European nights. His dilemma is possibly securing his future or playing for this football club. If it was only a football context, and we were all on a level playing field financially, he would be here already."