French side Nantes are the new favourites to sign Croatia striker Ivan Klasnic on a free transfer after Wigan appeared to pull out of the race.Klasnic has confirmed he will be leaving Werder Bremen when his contract expires this summer after returning to fitness following a kidney transplant.

He scored two goals for Croatia at Euro 2008 and has been linked with a clutch of clubs across the continent.

Wigan, Borussia Dortmund, Celtic, Porto, Besiktas and Olympiakos are among the teams reportedly weighing up an offer for the forward.

Indeed, Steve Bruce has had the striker watched twice during Euro 2008, but reports suggest the Latics boss has had a change of heart over a move for the powerful forward.

But Nantes, who are looking to boost their squad after securing a return to Ligue 1, are hoping to convince Klasnic to move to France.

"It could be nice," Nantes' sporting director Christian Lariepe told the French media.

"We will work for one week to see what we can do, but we are far from anything concrete, so we have to be cautious."

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