Jose Fonte

Classical Mechanic said:
How do centre halves ever get a shot then?
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When it's appropriate - cup games, the Europa League this year. Then they get chances as deserved.

Not in a crisis when they're massively exposed and it's a sink or swim situation. Young players generally need time to settle without being under the microscope. I'd say especially for centre backs where one mistake can cost you the game.
 
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I got a soft spot for Portuguese players.. wouldn't mind him here at all!
 
KM said:
Very underwhelming signing this. I'd rather keep Blind if the alternative is Jose Fonte.
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Ideally we keep Blind as back-up LB/CB and Rojo is the one Fonte replaces.
 
KM said:
Very underwhelming signing this. I'd rather keep Blind if the alternative is Jose Fonte.
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Hopefully it is both Blind and Fonte to be deputies of Smalling and Bailly. That would be a decent set of centerbacks.
 
A surprising amount of negativity on here. He's been one of the better defenders in the PL the last few years. With the number of games this year we need another defender for certain.
 
Don't know much about him, seems he's had an underwhelming career. What type of defender is he?
 
RedRover said:
A surprising amount of negativity on here. He's been one of the better defenders in the PL the last few years. With the number of games this year we need another defender for certain.
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I was just going to post the same! I wouldn't be surprised if he was first choice for us - he's good enough to be.
 
Pentame said:
Wasn't Ricardo Carvalho playing instead of him in the euros, or was he injured?
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For the first few games, but he then displaced Carvalho and did a far better job.
 
This shows the lack of quality out there when it comes to centre backs. For 9m though, it's a cheap punt we can afford. He isn't good enough as a starting CB for title contenders IMO, but a good squad option while our young players learn.
 
Big Ben Foster said:
Swap deals don't happen
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Well it's rare, but more like we buy said player for a certain amount and you can buy our player for a certain amount. Would allow both teams to get a player that they want (assuming Southampton still want Rojo), which is especially significant given that there would only be 2 weeks for Southampton to get a replacement if Fonte were to leave.
 
Makes sense. As long as it means Rojo leaving and not Blind. CBJ and Blind can cover Shaw, even Darmian too.
 
Would be a fantastic signing, people that don't want him are daft, to be frank. Just the type of solid, reliable centre back that Jose loves to possess. When Bailly leaves for the AFCON, if we get any defensive injuries, god forbid Smalling for example, you'd be looking at bums like Jones and Rojo having to start. If Blind is covering for injuries in left back or central midfield then you'd be looking at both those bums starting most likely (If they're not bloody injured themselves, the cripples:lol:)

Having a weak defence will kill us. We have a starting 11 capable of giving the title a go this year and for 9 million, Fonte would be a great insurance policy. Don't forget we have the Europa League to compete in this year and the two starting centre backs in that will be our 3rd and 4th choices in the League. Getting an experienced centre back is vital IMO, and for the quoted price, you can't get any better than Fonte.

Tbh, wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if our first choice centre backs this year are Fonte and Bailly.
 
He's a good defender. The defensive market is in a terrible state at present and he'd be a lot more reliable than both Rojo and Jones. I usually dislike stop-gap signings but I wouldn't mind taking a punt on this one. Southampton have had a good defensive record for three seasons now and Fonte has barely missed a kick.
 
Cooksen said:
Its a stop gap and it can take some pressure off younger defnenders
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You mean so that the younger defenders will not play.

Pointless signing, we should be using youngsters as backups instead of "some old guy from southampton". I guess Mourinho would never trust them though.
 
RedRover said:
Not trendy enough for some it seems.
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I think it's more the fact that nobody was calling for us to sign him at any stage over the last number of years, but now the press are running with it, there's people saying "He'd be a fantastic signing" and calling him a great defender. There's always going to be some yes men hanging off José's ball sack at the stage I suppose.
 
He might surprise some here. He's great solid defender and good leader, solid back up option for top 6 clubs. I was impressed by his first season without Lovren, think it was the season before the last one, watched Soouthampton quite regularly and he really impressed... saying all this I am not sure if we need him. We have our own palyers to develop and Jones is still here. I also think Blind is decent backup option
 
Solid player. More importantly from our point of view, he's an experienced leader and organiser who is well adjusted to the PL. If that's what Mourinho wants...

Look at it this way: Fonte was able to make Lovren look good for an entire season. He's got something.
 
ManUchosenbosslvg said:
I think it's more the fact that nobody was calling for us to sign him at any stage over the last number of years, but now the press are running with it, there's people saying "He'd be a fantastic signing" and calling him a great defender. There's always going to be some yes men hanging off José's ball sack at the stage I suppose.
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So you should only think it's a decent signing if you've been calling for the club to sign him for years? Why?

A very obvious fact is that the signing of Bailly - clearly a first choice player in the short to medium term, we still need cover since we might have a 50 game season.

He's a decent player who's performed well in the league over the last few years. The evidence suggests he'd do alright so it's hardly controversial to say he'd be a decent signing all things considered.
 
Again for all you against this possible signing, Bailly will be leaving United to go play in the AFCON mid season imagine if Smalling and or blind are injured (highly probable considering the number of matches we play) that leaves us to rely on rojo/Jones, in a possible title run season it could be make or break us.

Under £10 million for one of the best CB in the league is a complete no brainier.
 
Doesn't make any sense to me, now that Bailly already proved he's the real thing. No way Bailly is going to be benched, so… Fonte won't probably even make it to the bench on Premier League games. Notice how Smalling or Blind, both better than him, will be on the bench against his team next week.

P.S.: concerning the issue of Bailly playing the African Cup mid-season, why not bring an extra experienced center-back in January?
 
Guess Jose doesn't think much of Jones and Rojo

We'd have a really good group of CBs with Smalling, Bailly, Blind and Fonte
 
Turamb said:
Guess Jose doesn't think much of Jones and Rojo

We'd have a really good group of CBs with Smalling, Bailly, Blind and Fonte
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Yep. Those 4 would give us great depth in defence. A couple injuries and we'd still be good to go. I'd swap Jones and Rojo for Fonte without a moments hesitation.
 
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