It seems possible that Jose Fonte is returning to Southampton.
According to reports in Portugal, Jose Fonte is reportedly considering four offers—three from within Portugal and one from outside—and there is conjecture that Saints is the team that has made the offer. According to Sportwitness, Jose Fonte is weighing his alternatives, and returning to his former club Southampton may be one of them, according to claims made by the Portuguese publication O Jogo. First and foremost, Fonte must decide if he will continue playing for one more season, which would mark his 41st birthday. Fonte spent seven years at St Mary’s before leaving under mysterious circumstances for West Ham United in January 2017.
The club encouraging him to stay on the field, according to them, is Estoril, which is a short drive down the coast from Lisbon; the other three offers, however, are less clear-cut, with no indication of whether they are for coaching or playing roles. O Jogo notes that Southampton “may want to offer some kind of role” to “one of their recent legends” now that they are back in the Premier League. Just when that would happen—now or after his final season on the team—is unclear.
It’s interesting to note that Fonte appears to be held in higher regard on Saints social media sites than Adam Lallana, another Saints legend who left with equal indecent haste, even though he left St Mary’s under cloud in the summer of 2016 after abruptly deciding he wanted a move to a bigger club, only 7 months after signing a long-term deal and eventually forcing a move to West Ham.
If this were a playing contract, I would be shocked; at forty, that would be a big risk in the Premier League. Fonte was a bit part player at Braga last season, starting just sixteen games and adding three more as a substitute. During the last third of the season, he was mainly a bench warmer. He was still a frequent starter for Lille in 2022–2023, though. It’s up for dispute what offer Southampton would make, but my guess is that it would involve some form of coaching position. It would also be intriguing to see if he could still function as a reserve player.
