Klasnic clinched Bolton move thanks to wife

Bolton Wanderers striker Ivan Klasnic only earned his loan move from Nantes thanks to his wife's passport.

The Mirror says Croatian World Cup striker Klasnic joined Gary Megson's club before the window shut, but he was almost left in limbo because of his strange personal background.

Klasnic was born in Hamburg before opting to choose Croatia as the country he wanted to play for - and he does not have a German passport as a result.

Bolton only found out that surprise fact when he was about to sign and they could not get a work permit for him because he fell short of the number of caps needed to get one.

Target man Klasnic has missed many internationals in the past two years for health and injury reasons, so he would have been rejected.

However Wanderers got round the surprise problem by flying in Klasnic along with his wife, who does have a German passport, and completed the deal.