Saints have been buying central defenders this summer and if rumour is correct they will add another before Xmas, is this forward planning ?
It cannot be denied that Saints have a plethora of central defenders on the books at present, Jose Fonte, Yoshida, Florin Gardos were joined by Stephen Caulker on loan and the permanent signing of Virgil Van Dijk.
The latest rumour from Holland is that Ron Vlaar is a done deal and the Dutch central defender will join Saints when he is nearing fitness which could be around the end of October.
That would leave Saints with six central defenders as well as Cuco Martina who can also play in this position, it could be said that Gardos is out for the season, but Saints are too top heavy in this position already even before Vlaar does or soes not arrive.
But an interesting piece in the Daily Mail about Super Agent Jorge Mendes this weekend by Neil Ashton contained a couple of lines right at the end that may shed light on why Ronald Koeman is stocking up in the centre of his defence.
Now Neil Aston is no friend of Southampton Football Club, he is firmly in the camp of former Chairman Nicola Cortese and was one of a couple of members of the press who were pumping out all the propoganda about how Cortese was revolutionising football a couple of summers ago.
This stopped abruptly when Cortese was deposed and from the minute Cortese left Ashton saw it as his duty to put out as many de stablising rumours as he could about Saints, so the first thing we have to consider is that his tacking on a story about Jose Fonte in an article about Mendes that is more about Real Madrid, De Gea and other superstars could be nothing more than Ashton throwing another bit of mud about Saints.
But to give Jose Fonte the last paragraph in a two page article on an agent whose big clients are the likes of De Gea, Cristiano Ronaldo, James Rodriguez and Angel Di Maria to name a few is bizarre to say the least.
Ashton states that Fonte ditched his agent Artur Fernandes in the summer and signed with Mendes and Aston's final words on Mendes in the article are
"Fonte remains at St Mary's angling for a new contract to put him in line with the club's top earners or waiting for a move to a top club at the end of the season.
Now that he is working with Mendes that day will come"
The inference s clear, Fonte has joined the Mendes stable for one last big pay day whether it be from Saints or another club.
But how much of his magic will Jorge Mendes be able to work for Fonte, the Portugese central defender will be 32 in December, he is not an attractive option to big clubs due to his age, if he were 4 years younger his form for Saints would certainly have made him a target for a so called bigger club, although it would have been the likes of Liverpool and Spurs not one of last years top four, but at 32 he will not find it easy to better what he has at Saints.
There is also the fact that Mendes appears to have a lot on his plate and his failure to get the De Gea deal to Real Madrid over the line has sullied his reputation a little, also with os many clients he has to prioritise and he wont have such a hands on relationship with Fonte as he has with the likes of De Gea and Ronaldo, the people who really pay the big bucks for him in earnings, to be blunt Jose Fonte is going to be chicken feed compared to them.
But is Ronald Koeman a step ahead of the situation, Koeman will be aware of Mendes and the way he does business and when a 31 year old central defender signs with that type of agent Koeman will see the warning signs ahead and it looks like he has prepared for it, not just that at 32 Fonte has not long left as first choice, even if Fonte hd not signed with Mendes it would have been a foolish manager who did not plan for the eventual day that his form started to dip and there arent that many central defenders that are at the top of their game past 33/34.
So what will january hold for Jose Fonte, he is currently in a contract that ends in the summer of 2017, so I see only two options.
1. Saints increase Fonte's earnings, now this isn't clear cut as it would first seem, because although they might be prepared to offer him better wages now, they are unlikely to want to extend the contract in terms of years by much at those high wages.
2. Sell Fonte now to the highest bidder, if Vlaar does arrive this would perhaps suggest that this is the option that Saints would prefer, in certain respects they are in a now lose situation in that they have Fonte tied in till what will effectively be the end of his peak period, logically as with any central defender his powers will start to wane as he passes 32, this is not a dig at Fonte just a fact of life in football.
So selling Fonte could be an attractive option to Saints, Saints work to a strategy in terms of transfers and that strategy says that when a player reaches a certain age you start to plan his replacement, when you receive more than he is worth then you sell him, that moment might come in January.
But I see only one club who would be interested and that is Liverpool, Brendon Rodgers has failed to sort out the centre of defence and if he hasnt been sacked by January he might consider Fonte as a short term fixalthough it won't be a cheap one and that could be the problem as in the main Liverpool run a transfer strategy that is like Saints in that they do not like to buy players that are too old for a sell on value, they made an exception with Rickie Lambert and that will put them off.
Other than the Merseyside club I cant see any one else interested that would give Fonte a move to a bigger club than Saints and indeed one that would pay more and even Spurs would not consider this a good deal other than stirring us up again.
That wont please some people, but f we take cold hard facts it makes sense if Saints were to have Caulker, Van Dijk & Vlaar at the club.
There is of course the third option and that is Fonte remains at Saints on his existing deal till 2017, from the club's point of view this would be ideal as they would get the best of Fonte now and then not be burdened by high wages in two years time if his form has dipped and he is no longer a first choice player in the side.
Whatever happens Fonte has not signed with Jorge Mendes for fun, he has signed to try and fet what is best for Jose Fonte both as a player and financially, this spells storm clouds for Saints, but on the face of it they have already prepared for the storm whatever way it should go.