Fonte Joins West Ham - £8m Official

[Saint Garrett]

Isn't it pretty simple,

 

He wanted to move in the summer, it didn't materialise, he burnt his bridges with the club, and therefore had to find a move - ended up at West Ham.

[buctootim]

"we all have to take care of our families. There were offers that came in that would take care of my family in ways that Southampton weren't willing to. It's a difficult situation. I arrived in the Premier League late at 29 years old - you still have to live 50 years after football".

 

Three years in the PL at £50,000pw is £7.5m, enough to live on for the rest of your life. Might as well ignore the pittance he earned in the Championship and the Portuguese 1st division over 10 years, probably another £7-8 million.

[trousers]

Isn't it pretty simple,

 

He wanted to move in the summer, it didn't materialise, he burnt his bridges with the club, and therefore had to find a move - ended up at West Ham.

This, in a nutshell

[Andy Durman]

Sadly Fonte lives in a professional footballers bubble.

 

Completely out of touch reality.

 

I try and take care of my family in ways you will never understand Mr Fonte!

 

It's known as the real world.

[Faz]

[kitch]

This direct quote makes it pretty clear it was about the money

 

you still have to live 50 years after football. You do your best for yourself and your family. You've got to fight for what you believe. I respected the club, but they weren't willing to find an agreement and reach a compromise.

 

Well, I should think not blowing hundreds of thousands on posh cars and mansions, and putting some of it into investment funds or just good old savings accounts might do the trick there. If someone gave me a million tomorrow, I reckon I could make it last a good decade or so, and with the money he's on he could easily have a couple of mil in the bank.

 

Footballers can be so deluded sometimes, it makes your brain hurt.

[John Boy Saint]

Sadly Fonte lives in a professional footballers bubble.

 

Completely out of touch reality.

 

I try and take care of my family in ways you will never understand Mr Fonte!

 

It's known as the real world.

But you only had to look at all the Euro 16 Portuguese photos.......... who was he hobnobbing with in just about every single one - Stratospheric Global Footballing Superstar Chrissy R numero uno on Forbes Richest Athletes list 2016 with £88m earnings and he is a year younger than Jose: that has to smart a little and sow seeds of missing out and wantin.....expecting more.

Footballers total detachment from reality came when C Ashley Cole was publicly and vocally incensed at the miserly £55,000 PER WEEK Arsenal had just offered him.......... something like "how can anyone be expected to live on £55k a week": ask your Mother you snotty little brat she was probably putting that silver spoon up your orafice as a single mother with very little loose change in her purse!

[Shance]

He's being given the absolute run around tonight. I know it's Chelsea but he's looked sooo slow and ponderous and his lack of pace has been exploited several times already.

 

We did well getting 8mil for him tbh.

[Turkish]

Why can't it be about money?? We supposedly offered to up his wages to £70k a week

 

Saints = 18 months @ £70k a week = £5.460m

WHU = 30 months @ £65k a week = £8.450m

 

Would you take the chance that after 18 months you would be offered another contract at the same level? Would you be prepared to risk £3m? He openly admitted that he was doing the best for him/his family (as obviously he can't possibly get any other form of work when he hangs up his boots).

 

Because his family are going to struggle with him making £5m over the next 18 months, plus the muitl millions he's already made up out of saints.

 

He's embarrassing himself with all this putting the record straight. He openly admits he told the club he wanted to look at options so regardless of if he actually wrote a formal transfer request he still made his intentions clear. He got his move so why does he keep trying to justify himself? If tonight is anything to go by then saints have got a great deal for a player that looks like his best days are beyond him. Well some west ham for making sure the Fonte family are not having to visit food banks in 2019 though.

[View From The Top]

He got a 20% payrise by moving and an extra year so why the fu_ck he's bleating I don't know.

 

He's also looked utterly gash tonight so getting £8m for an old man past his best is good business.

[angelman]

TBF, Hazard can make a lot of people look gash.

[simo]

I'm not sure anyone really had a problem with him wanting to leave did they ? I'd also argue if he did ask to leave a transfer request is the honourable thing to do forgoing any bonuses etc ! But the more he's trying to justify his move and make Saints look bad the more it takes away the feelings fans had for him Imo.

[Jackie@home]

He's just making himself look a prat so he would be better leaving well alone and try doing some Premier League defending.

[Professor]

I'm not sure anyone really had a problem with him wanting to leave did they ? I'd also argue if he did ask to leave a transfer request is the honourable thing to do forgoing any bonuses etc ! But the more he's trying to justify his move and make Saints look bad the more it takes away the feelings fans had for him Imo.

I can only speak for ourselves but in August, my group all felt he only had one more season in him at best and then didn't perform to expectation anyway. Whether he was losing form due to age, or playing below his ability, either way he had no future here and it looked like he'd gone down the pecking order in the side. As has been said, the fee that was obtained was remarkable for a player with a limited future.

As for Fonte having a financial motive to move, with income tax at 45% I'm not sure a 20% pay-rise for a millionaire makes that much difference but perhaps he was looking to extend his career, which I'm not sure SFC were prepared to do.

If he did play badly against Chelsea, I take no pleasure in that. He was great for us but sadly all football careers have a limited shelf life.

[itchen]

I can only speak for ourselves but in August, my group all felt he only had one more season in him at best and then didn't perform to expectation anyway. Whether he was losing form due to age, or playing below his ability, either way he had no future here and it looked like he'd gone down the pecking order in the side. As has been said, the fee that was obtained was remarkable for a player with a limited future.

As for Fonte having a financial motive to move, with income tax at 45% I'm not sure a 20% pay-rise for a millionaire makes that much difference but perhaps he was looking to extend his career, which I'm not sure SFC were prepared to do.

If he did play badly against Chelsea, I take no pleasure in that. He was great for us but sadly all football careers have a limited shelf life.

 

It's very unlikely he's paying 45% income tax. He'll probably have some tax efficient scheme whereby he becomes an employee getting paid a moderate wage while the real dosh is taxed at corporate rates. Taxes are for the little people,

[Whitey Grandad]

It's very unlikely he's paying 45% income tax. He'll probably have some tax efficient scheme whereby he becomes an employee getting paid a moderate wage while the real dosh is taxed at corporate rates. Taxes are for the little people,

 

It gets disguised as 'image rights' and other such vague concepts that are paid to a representative offshore company. Sol Campbell was subject to a tax case over his payments from his time at Portsmouth. I wonder what the outcome was?

[sadoldgit]

Fonte did well for us and we did well for him. Sadly the more he tries to justify himself the deeper the hole he digs. His agent and his new club should tell him to shut up. For me he has just confirmed all of the negative things said about him since he returned from the Euros. He was a decent player for us, but he really doesn't seem very bright.

[pluto]

Hes done another interview for BBC

[Heisenberg]

Les told a few porkies it seems. Only right and fair that Fonte would want to put forward his side of events.

 

Always 3 sides to every story.

[doddisalegend]

Hes done another interview for BBC

 

 

Seems the only person not over Fonte leaving saints is Fonte.....

[pluto]

Les told a few porkies it seems. Only right and fair that Fonte would want to put forward his side of events.

 

Always 3 sides to every story.

 

More like 3 interviews saying the same thing, whichs suggests hes trying to hide something.

 

He wanted out and to achieve that he had to put in a transfer request and all that happened.

[Super_Uwe]

So what exactly is it that the club or Les Reed did wrong then? I'm beginning to lose track of it all to be honest:scared:

[merrimd]

Seems to me that he is just being very pedantic. In his talkSport interview with White, he specifically said he had not put in a WRITTEN transfer request. He was very keen to be that specific. I feel that he probably did a VERBAL request which is what Les is referring too. However, I would be royally hacked off if one of our new players spent so much time discussing his previous club!

[Miltonaggro]

After being at a progressive professional club for much of his senior career, West Ham will have been a culture shock - and I think that's what this is all about. Like resigning in haste from an employer only to find that the grass is not greener. Could have been a legend, now a footnote, and he knows it!

[farawaysaint]

After being at a progressive professional club for much of his senior career, West Ham will have been a culture shock - and I think that's what this is all about. Like resigning in haste from an employer only to find that the grass is not greener. Could have been a legend, now a footnote, and he knows it!

 

Playing in front of crowds half again as big, earning more money and in a newer stadium in a better area (for the wealthy) I don't imagine he cares much tbh.

[doddisalegend]

Playing in front of crowds half again as big, earning more money and in a newer stadium in a better area (for the wealthy) I don't imagine he cares much tbh.

 

 

Exactly he is doing it for his family he has to spend nearly fifty years doing nothing that don't come cheap.... neither does regularly upgrading your Bentley... Even if he is unhappy he will put up with it like millions of hardworking dads to provide for his family.....

[angelman]

So what exactly is it that the club or Les Reed did wrong then? I'm beginning to lose track of it all to be honest:scared:

 

If I had to have a guess, the club behaved pretty badly in not changing the contract that he signed 7 months earlier to one that he felt (in some self-aggrandised manner) he was due, even if it was increasing his pay by quite a lot. Horrid people at the top of the club for not bending over and taking it.!

[saintwbu]

Seems to me that he is just being very pedantic. In his talkSport interview with White, he specifically said he had not put in a WRITTEN transfer request. He was very keen to be that specific. I feel that he probably did a VERBAL request which is what Les is referring too. However, I would be royally hacked off if one of our new players spent so much time discussing his previous club!

 

Is it possible that there is some disagreement over loyalty bonuses and the like? I don't know how and when this sort of thing is settled. But I know that a transfer request results in any bonuses being waived.

[Mr X]

The real question is money aside who thinks fonte will regret the move?

[Snopper]

An old saying but still true - you never find out how good a place is until you leave it Anyway, I`ve moved on at the end of the day to be fair.

[Saint Garrett]

Seems to me like he's trying to justify it to himself...the fans have moved on.

[Heisenberg]

He has as much chance of winning anything with WHU as he does us, so it's very much a sideways move.

 

Would you take a sideways move for more money? I would

[Toadhall Saint]

Seems the only person not over Fonte leaving saints is Fonte.....

 

True dat!

[simo]

Someone tell him to just give it a rest , He'll be on newsround next !

[Lighthouse]

Playing in front of crowds half again as big, earning more money and in a newer stadium in a better area (for the wealthy) I don't imagine he cares much tbh.

 

The only part of that he will really care about is the money. If players actually cared about stadium size, they'd be leaving Chelsea to play for Newcastle. I also don't know why living in a nice part of London would be an appeal for him. After all that waffle about wanting money to support his family, etc. The price of living there is obscene. He could live in Winchester or the New Forest cheap and have a much bigger house with more land.

 

Exactly he is doing it for his family he has to spend nearly fifty years doing nothing that don't come cheap.... neither does regularly upgrading your Bentley... Even if he is unhappy he will put up with it like millions of hardworking dads to provide for his family.....

 

He doesn't have to spend nearly 50 years doing nothing. He can earn a very comfortable salary doing media or coaching.

[doddisalegend]

The only part of that he will really care about is the money. If players actually cared about stadium size, they'd be leaving Chelsea to play for Newcastle. I also don't know why living in a nice part of London would be an appeal for him. After all that waffle about wanting money to support his family, etc. The price of living there is obscene. He could live in Winchester or the New Forest cheap and have a much bigger house with more land.

 

 

 

He doesn't have to spend nearly 50 years doing nothing. He can earn a very comfortable salary doing media or coaching.

 

 

I know I was being sarcastic when I read his little piece with sky I vomited a little bit in my mouth.

 

Millionaire footballs playing the "my career is short card" when talking about money never sits well when their target audience are people that will have to graft hard well into their 60s to earn a small portion of what a PL footballer will earn.

[Lighthouse]

I know I was being sarcastic when I read his little piece with sky I vomited a little bit in my mouth.

 

Millionaire footballs playing the "my career is short card" when talking about money never sits well when their target audience are people that will have to graft hard well into their 60s to earn a small portion of what a PL footballer will earn.

 

Fair enough, I obviously didn't pick up on that.

 

Not that I'm bothered anyway, we're going to be mid table with a cup final and I doubt Fonte would have changed that.

[Dark Munster]

Fair enough, I obviously didn't pick up on that.

 

Not that I'm bothered anyway, we're going to be mid table with a cup final and I doubt Fonte would have changed that.

We might have won the final though.

[Whitey Grandad]

We might have won the final though.

 

Or if Virgil had been fit.

[Professor]

We might have won the final though.

 

Or if the first goal had not been incorrectly disallowed.

[trousers]

We might have won the final though.

Or if Romeu hadn't hit the post

[Heisenberg]

Or if the first goal had not been incorrectly disallowed.

 

If we had kept Koeman then ibrahimovic would have been playing for us and we would have won easy.

[Lighthouse]

We might have won the final though.

 

Or we might have conceded a bunch of other goals in different circumstances. Like the one we conceded at OT when José made a very weak attempt to challenge Zlatan for a header.

[Miltonaggro]

Playing in front of crowds half again as big, earning more money and in a newer stadium in a better area (for the wealthy) I don't imagine he cares much tbh.

 

Why doesn't he talk about all that to the press then? Needs to man up and move on.

[simo]

West ham in today's news "bemused" at Payets latest interview, telling him "to get on with his life" ! How ironic

[Badger]

Seems to me like he's trying to justify it to himself...the fans have moved on.

 

Exactly, if he keeps saying it, long enough and loud enough he'll even start believing his own version of events. Especially when he reads it in the paper the next day.

 

Sad ending to his time with us, and he knows it.

[hutch]

I'll wait till the start of the season after next. Let's see how he's doing then, when by his own version he'll be worth about £5m a year

[Turkish]

I know I was being sarcastic when I read his little piece with sky I vomited a little bit in my mouth.

 

Millionaire footballs playing the "my career is short card" when talking about money never sits well when their target audience are people that will have to graft hard well into their 60s to earn a small portion of what a PL footballer will earn.

 

He won't want to talk about that though, he'll just wish people would stop going on about it. He doesn't want to talk about it but every keeps asking him, he wishes they'd shut up but every interview he does they ask him so he had to put the record straight just everyone knows he didn't do it for himself it was for him family, but he doesn't like talking about it, just keeps being asked and wishes people would stop going on About it. He's the sort of guy that if he posted on here would put someone on ignore, tell everyone that person is on ignore yet talk about them all the time and reply to posts quoting them, because the last thing he wants to do us ho on about it.

[Badger]

He won't want to talk about that though, he'll just wish people would stop going on about it. He doesn't want to talk about it but every keeps asking him, he wishes they'd shut up but every interview he does they ask him so he had to put the record straight just everyone knows he didn't do it for himself it was for him family, but he doesn't like talking about it, just keeps being asked and wishes people would stop going on About it. He's the sort of guy that if he posted on here would put someone on ignore, tell everyone that person is on ignore yet talk about them all the time and reply to posts quoting them, because the last thing he wants to do us ho on about it.

 

Sad reflection that despite his success at the Euro's last summer this remains the topic the press choose to ask him about, or he chooses to be interviewed on. Purely to put the record straight of course.

[Supersubpuckett]

More like 3 interviews saying the same thing, whichs suggests hes trying to hide something.

 

He wanted out and to achieve that he had to put in a transfer request and all that happened.

 

I know from someone who used to be on the board, still with contacts in the club, that he was, allegedly, stoked up by his agent and behaving like a right bellend...in the end he had to move on. All these interviews appear to be a shallow PR stunt by his agent, although no idea what he expects to achieve.

 

I'll be amazed if he has a regular starting place next season.