Southampton have been rocked by the news at Jose Fonte has handed in a transfer request. The news broke on Thursday night with the 33-year-old seemingly signalling his intention to make a move away from St Mary’s after spending seven years at the club.
With his defensive partner Virgil van Dijk also in demand this month, this news will come as a major blow to Claude Puel as he could now lose not just one, but both of his centre-backs that have impressed throughout the first half of the season.
After winning the European Championship with Portugal over the summer, Fonte was repeatedly linked with a move to Manchester United and a chance to link up with compatriot Jose Mourinho. That switch never came to fruition, but with this development, it now once again becomes a distinct possibility.
The club have yet to receive any concrete bids, but with Fonte now looking to force a move away from the South Coast then it should be a matter of time before Manchester United, and other clubs for that matter, step up their interest in the Portuguese defender.
The question you have to ask yourself is: why now? Well, the rumours of Fonte’s departure from the club have not gone away since the summer and his performances for Southampton have only helped fuel the fire in regards to his status at the club.
There are perhaps some parallels to the move that Ashley Williams made to Everton. Williams, for so long a servant of Swansea, felt that he was approaching the age that if he was not to move on then he would miss the opportunity to play for a bigger club, one that perhaps that his talents truly deserves.
And the same could arguably be said for Fonte as he approaches the twilight years of his career. After joining from Crystal Palace in 2010, when the club were in League One, he has helped them earn two promotions and once again become an established top flight side.
With 18 months left on his deal, Southampton are not necessarily in a rush to move Fonte on, but at that same time, it’s hard to envisage a situation in which he stays for the duration of his current deal. What makes the story more compelling is the apparent refusal to sign a new one.
That is something the player himself denies but Les Reed has been quoted as saying:
“What was offered to Jose was, in my view, quite significant off the back of the contract he signed in October 2015.”
So one of these two parties is not telling the truth and will this now lead to an acrimonious split from the club for the former Benfica defender.
Southampton fans will obviously be frustrated that their captain has handed in a transfer request but then again they will probably not be all that surprised either. If and when Fonte does depart he will be the latest in a very long line of talent to have moved on from St Mary’s in the past three seasons.
This transfer window was an opportunity for Puel to make additions to his squad as his side to look to be the best of the rest in the Premier League with the top six all but sewn up already.
It now seems like a new centre-back will become a top priority as there could be a very large gap to fill.
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