Former Southampton skipper Jose Fonte finds himself a free agent this summer now that the World Cup in Russia is over as he has agreed to terminate his contract at Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang.
Having left Southampton in the January 2017 window as he sought a last big money move and fresh surroundings after seven years with us, the move didn’t go great for the 34-year-old and West Ham will be questioning the £8million fee they paid as they didn’t break even when he moved on. Knowing he wanted to leave though it suited our purposes and it still feels like something went on in the background that fans aren’t aware of to me.
283 starting appearances, five substitute showings, 16 goals and his place in history as we rose through the levels and kicked on in the Premier League (ignoring last season) shouldn’t be sniffed at though.
It’s fair to say the main link so far when it comes to a future destination is with newly promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers given Jorge Mendes who serves as his agent and their advisor.
I’m not yet seeing speculation suggesting he’ll return to St Mary’s Stadium, but I would think it’ll only be a matter of time as somebody links our struggles last year and references the age of other options in the heart of defence.
I can’t see it happening though and it shouldn’t. Jannik Vestergaard carries good experience to help the younger lads on and we still have to see what happens with Maya Yoshida, so I see no point in adding an older head to the group now.
The memories should remain just that.
