United court battle could cost Fortune

MANCHESTER UNITED are set to get dragged into a nasty court battle over how Quinton Fortune ended up with Alex Ferguson’s son Jason’s Elite Sports Agency.

South African agent Colin Gie, who represented Fortune for 14 years, claims he was called by the player on July 1, 2002, requesting his presence at contract talks.

Yet when Gie arrived three days later, Fortune would not speak to him and offered no explanation.

The midfielder subsequently signed a three-year contract last May and was named as one of the 13 United players on Elite’s books in the controversial BBC3 documentary ‘Fergie and Son’ screened last night.

Gie is suing Fortune for loss of earnings and has vowed to publish his own account of events once the court case, scheduled for mid-August in Cape Town, is completed.

What United officials will fear most is an allegation their manager may have been involved in Fortune’s abrupt change of heart.