Jose Fonte, West Ham’s £8 million centre-back, was initially linked with a move to West Brom in January.
Jose Fonte may have been one of the Premier League’s most consistent defenders since earning his top flight chance with Southampton in 2012. But paying £8 million for a 33-year-old centre-half still carries a certain degree of risk, the BBC reports.
And, two months after swapping the South Coast for West Ham United, the Euro 2016 champion has done very little to justify his hefty price tag.
The Portuguese defender has conceded 18 times in his eight Premier League games in West Ham colours, losing four against Manchester City, three against Leicester and Bournemouth as well as suffering a defeat to Hull City on Saturday.
Therefore, few fans will disagree as Fonte himself admits that he has underperformed thus far.
“I haven’t been as good as I perhaps was before but I am working to get there,” the veteran, who has not kept a clean sheet since arriving the London Stadium, told the Evening Standard.
While this does not make pleasant reading for West Ham fans, Fonte’s ongoing struggles will have gone down much better at West Brom.
The Birmingham Mail reported that Baggies boss Tony Pulis was desperate to sign Fonte, a towering, experienced centre-half who fits the West Brom mould, in January. However, the defender chose West Ham instead due to his desire to live in the capital.
However, judging by West Brom’s rugged defensive performance against Manchester United on Saturday, Jonny Evans and Gareth McAuley putting their bodies on the line to snaffle a 0-0 draw, £8 million Fonte appears more a ‘lucky escape’ than ‘the one that got away’.
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