Albion set to miss out on duo

Any hope of persuading striker Marc-Antoine Fortune to make a permanent move to the Hawthorns have gone, with the news the club's former boss and Celtic manager Tony Mowbray has now agreed the £2.5million fee demanded by the forward's French club Nancy.

Now Barry Ferguson, who is believed to have staged preliminary talks with Albion about a move from Rangers, is now expected to join Birmingham City.

Both deals had the stamp of their former manager on them, as do the continuing talks to persuade two of last season's late successes, Youssouf Mulumbu and Juan Carlos Menseguez, to stay.

Albion chairman Jeremy Peace is settling on a narrowed down shortlist at the moment, with a view to interviews over the weekend and an appointment in time for next week's return to pre-season training, by players now wondering in which direction the club will turn.

But the urgency of that appointment has been underlined by the sight of player targets eluding them.

Rangers' former captain Ferguson is on the verge of signing for a second time for Alex McLeish, who paid Blackburn £4.5million for the midfielder while manager at Ibrox in 2004.

Fortune's agent Michael Manuello has now ruled out staying with Albion.

He said: "We will talk with Celtic at the end of the week and see what is on offer financially. We will talk with everyone over the next 10 days.

"Celtic is definitely an option Marc will consider. His relationship with Tony at West Brom was wonderful. It would be very exciting.

"The two men would like to work together again."