The Quinton Fortune saga is about to take another fascinating turn: Newcastle’s grumpy Graeme Souness is reported to be after the 27-year-old and is prepared to pay £2-million for Manchester United’s South African midfielder.
There’s also talk of a swap deal involving Newcastle goalkeeper Shay Given, though with Fulham’s Edwin van der Sar now on board at Malcolm Glazer’s new toy, that looks unlikely.
Either way, the rumours are rife. Fortune may be packing his bags already, but he’s used to that.
Remember all those years ago, when an old English professional called Colin Gie brought a little lad from the Cape Flats to London to train with Tottenham?
No, you probably don’t. I do. The boy from Kewtown was a sensation. Terry Venables loved him. At Forest Gate public school, Fortune and another young Spurs star, Darren Caskey, a former England schoolboy captain who has long since disappeared from the Premiership ranks, helped the posh lads beat off the tough state schools and win the English schools cup. A Spurs future looked assured.
But then Venables fell out with chairman Alan Sugar and in 1995 Fortune disappeared off to Spain, spent some time on the holiday island of Mallorca and then went to Atletico Madrid.
When he was rescued by Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United for £1,5-million in 1999, it looked a dream move. In many ways it has been. Championship and FA Cup medals followed, but last season he appeared just 17 times in the Premiership, only 12 of those as a starter. In six seasons he has made 53 league stars and come on as a sub 23 times, scoring five goals.
It’s not enough for an international veteran of 43 South African caps. In a midfield dominated by Roy Keane, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs (and before that David Beckham), and with players like Ronaldo, the newly arrived Park Ji-Sung, Darrren Fletcher and Phil Neville floating about too, what chance did he have of becoming a superhero?
That chance looms large now. Newcastle love a worker, they love a man who spills his guts for the cause. They liked Lee Bowyer even after he’d given team-mate Kieron Dyer a punch on the nose. It’s that kind of commitment they love up in the north-east, where trophies are slightly less plentiful than they are at Old Trafford. Fortune is that man. Combative, determined, eager for a regular starting spot.
Like that of Nicky Butt before him, the move from United to Newcastle, though it looks a retrograde step, is a tempting offer.