Manchester United transfer target Jose Fonte has decided to stay put at Southampton after bagging a hike in his existing wage packet, according to foottheball sources.
Mourinho wants to add more depth in the defense and build upon the flying start to the new Premier League season. The former Chelsea boss was linked with a £8m move for Southampton’s star defender Fonte.
However, Fonte has held talks with club chairman Ralph Krueger and director of football Les Reed and has decided to stay at Southampton.
After negotiations over an increase the wage packet, it is now believed that Fonte will receive a huge hike from £45,000 to £70,000 per week.
In a pre-match conference ahead of Saturday’s Premier League clash against Sunderland, club boss Puel insisted that Fonte was more focussed on his game.
Claude Puel talks about #SaintsFC captain José Fonte, following recent speculation about his future: https://t.co/mgrxBJDCY5
— Southampton FC (@SouthamptonFC) August 25, 2016
“The situation of Jose is now finished and he is back to normal,” said Puel.
“Jose is now concentrating just on his football and his team. He had a good discussion with the director of football, with the chairman and now everything is all OK.”
“For Jose it was important for us, for me, to keep him in the squad because he is a good personality, a good professional and has good leadership qualities.”
“It was important to listen to Jose and understand his position and have time to speak – but now is the time to play and there is no problem with this.”
Earlier reports claimed that Fonte was willing to make a switch to Man Utd and play under Mourinho.
Man Utd already have Eric Bailly, Daley Blind and Chris Smalling in the centre-back position but Mourinho wanted to bring in Fonte after Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo has been highly linked with a move away from Old Trafford this summer.
Despite being 32, Fonte was a part of Portugal’s Euro 2016 winning squad and has a lot to offer with a four-year experience in the Premier League to his name.
But Fonte has now decided to stay with Southampton, which comes as a huge blow for Man Utd, with previous reports claiming that Mourinho is willing to wait until the transfer deadline day to capture his target.
