In what has become a very busy day, Sky Sports sources are reporting that West Ham are in “advanced” talks over signing 33 year old center back Jose Fonte from Southampton in the coming days.
The Portuguese international has been on the South Coast for quite a while, but he recently turned in a transfer request. His manager, Claude Puel, confirmed that he did.
Since that time, Puel has refused to field Fonte out of fear that he would not be concentrated on the match itself. His side haven’t suffered much without him, as they have remained poor in front of goal, particularly at home.
West Ham boss Slaven Bilic has confirmed that talks are ongoing, but that they are not at the medical stage as of yet. With his side playing poorly in defense, this could be a great answer for the short term.
However, West Ham will need to accept and expect diminishing returns for the Portuguese man, so paying too high of a premium will only make sense in Southampton’s point of view.
