Celtic last night clinched the signing of Marc-Antoine Fortuné, the French Guianese striker, from Nancy in what is being seen as the first major plank in Tony Mowbray's attempt to rebuild Celtic since he took over from Gordon Strachan as manager last month.

Landing Fortuné, who underwent a medical in Glasgow yesterday, has been a drawn-out affair, which only confirms the severity of the task facing Mowbray. The former West Bromwich Albion manager has a relatively tight budget in the context of where he is expected to take Celtic and at £3.7 million, the signing of Fortuné is no trifling investment.

Landry N'Guemo, the 23-year-old Nancy and Cameroon defensive midfield player, could also be installed at Celtic Park by the time the club play Brisbane Roar in Australia in their opening pre-season friendly on Sunday.

Fortuné, 28, was plucked from Nancy last January and taken on-loan to West Brom by Mowbray, where he did relatively well despite the club's relegation from the Barclays Premier League. The striker had recently been chased by a number of English top-flight clubs, including Hull City and Portsmouth, and has taken quite a while to finally agree to come to Celtic for less money than he could earn south of the Border.

The move marks the latest in a peculiar series of events in Fortuné's career. Born in French Guiana, the tiny département in South America, the striker has played for such humble clubs as Rouen, Brest, Utrecht and then Nancy before coming to Mowbray's attention. In France, some people are staggered by Fortuné's sudden elevation.

Mowbray will be relieved at Fortuné's arrival at Celtic Park. He had been a principal target since the new Celtic manager took up office four weeks ago and had become quite a pre-occupation of Mowbray's in recent weeks.

With Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and Paul Hartley both leaving Celtic, Mowbray had been anxious to get new names in before the pre-season dragged on any further. Fortuné is expected to announce a three-year contract with Celtic today.

The Glasgow club, however, may be about to lose Neil Lennon, the first-team coach under Strachan, if he takes up Stockport County's offer to become their new manager.

The 38-year-old's position under Mowbray has yet to be clarified, with the new manager bringing in Peter Grant and Mark Venus as his assistants.

Lennon has scarcely been able to have a proper conversation with Mowbray since the new manager's appointment, although that has partly been to do with circumstances - Lennon has been on holiday and then Mowbray took time off to be with his heavily-pregnant wife. Lennon is expected to announce his future intentions in the next 48 hours.