Jose Fonte rejected the chance to sign for West Brom when leaving Southampton in January.
Hindsight doesn’t exactly reflect well on West Ham’s decision to sign Jose Fonte from Southampton in the January transfer window. At the time, the Portuguese was one of the Premier League’s most reliable defenders with a European Championship winner’s medal on his mantelpiece.
Seven months on, however, Fonte is looking every one of his 33 years and the £8 million West Ham paid to sign him in January, per the BBC, looks unlikely to buy the club anything other than a mid-table finish.
Southampton fans must have struggled to recognise the towering centre-back as he returned to face the side he left under a cloud in the New Year on Saturday, The Hammers going down 3-2 to a late Charlie Austin penalty.
It was another spot-kick which put The Saints 2-0 up in the first-half, converted by Dusan Tadic and given away by Fonte is baffling fashion. Getting far too tight to Steven Davis, Fonte was turned easily before dragging the Irishman down inside the box.
It was the kind of dreadful decision making that has epitomised Fonte’s disastrous spell with The Hammers. Yet, while West Ham lost on the South Coast, West Brom, the club the veteran defender rejected in January sealed two wins from two for the first time since the 70s, keeping another clean sheet to boot.
According to the Birmingham Mail, Fonte chose West Ham over The Baggies due to his desire to live in the capital city and it’s fair to say Tony Pulis won’t be cursing West Bromwich’s lack of glamour.
After all, his side looked perfectly well organised even in the absence of captain Jonny Evans. Ahmed Hegazi, the Egyptian centre-back signed for just £1 million, as reported by the Birmingham Mail, looks far better value than Fonte right now.
West Brom may have missed out but that looks increasingly like a blessing in disguise.
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