When Manchester United hired Jose Mourinho they did so to revitalise their squad with big name signings, If he signed Fonte it could test the patience of not only the United fans but the club's board itself.
Jose Fonte has been a great servant to Southampton Football Club since signing in January 2010 and should he stay till the end of the season he will pass 300 games for the club in all competitions, something that will rightly entitle him to be classed as a club legend.
However something has changed in Fonte himself since his return from the European Championships and despite Saints offering him a pay rise, this does not seem to be good enough for him and he took the unusual step last week of airing his views in public.
The real issue seems to be the length of his contract, whilst he was happy to sign a new deal last season that would see him through to the summer of 2018 when he would be 34, although Saints seem happy to make him one of the highest earners now, they understandably feel that they don't want to be paying those sort of wages past his 35th birthday.
Fonte said in his outburst last week that he had not been offered a new deal but merely a pay rise, if that was the case then why would he have not accepted it ? If it was not a new contract then nothing changed apart from the money going into his bank, he could easily have said yes and it would not have altered his position should the likes of Manchester United still wanted to come in for him in January.
The latest news is that Saints have slapped a £15 million price tag on him, this is paper talk at it's best or worst, slapping prices on players has no worth for a selling club, if a player wants to move he usually goes and it is not always to the highest bidder in these modern times.
But perhaps the strangest part of this story is that Jose Mourinhowould want to sign him anyway !
Well strange if you still believe that this game is still basically morally sound and that the fact that Fonte's agent Jorge Mendes and Jose Mourinho are best friends and have always worked closely together is just pure coincidence in this deal.
From a United perspective this deal makes no sense, they appointed Mourinho to restore the Old Trafford club back to it's former glories, in the Portugese manager they hoped that they finally had at the third attempt someone who had the aura and the clout that Sir Alex Ferguson had in football.
Someone who was a winner and focused on nothing but football and to do so would not stop at signing some of the World's best players.
Therefore United's hierarchy having handed Mourinho a virtually open chequebook expected to see the quality signings come in.
There has been a lot of money spent, Zlatan Ibrahimovic was a free agent but his signing on fee and wages dont come cheap, Henrikh Mkhitaryan was £26 million and then of course there is Paul Pogba, £90 million for a player who United released on a free four years ago.
It is fair to say that Ibrahimovic aside the £116 million spent on the other two is not seen as great business at the moment.
More to the point though United and their fans expected to see a quality central defender come in last summer, so to be linked with Jose Fonte a player who will be 33 next week has not enthused them, the fact that Mourinho seemed willing to spend £10 million on a player at the tail end of his career was not what they wanted to see, they wanted, indeed demanded a big name big money signing who would stop the leaks at the back.
Mourinho's failure to do this has raised eyebrows in football and already put question marks over his commitment to Manchester United and his ability to do the job.
United for their part cannot afford another season outside the Champions League financially and they know if that was to happen then they would be reduced down to 5th or 6th in the Premier league pecking order, a shadow of the club who dominated British football for over two decades.
That is why they appointed Mourinho, to sign the quality of players that Alex Ferguson seemed able to do, they accepted that neither David Moyes or Louis Van Gaal really had the reputation or clout to do that and they had gone along the wrong track in thinking the club's reputation alone would enable te legacy of Ferguson to continue seamlessly, so they wanted the biggest name in management to bring in the biggest names on the field.
So if they had wanted a manager who would be chasing the likes of Jose Fonte then they would not have appointed Mourinho.
The fact that he is after Fonte and still appears to be if you believe the press is severely testing the patience of the United board and if he was to do so at a prcie in excess of £10 million then his days could be numbered at Old Trafford.
United are well aware of the relationship between Mourinho and Mendes and the issues at Chelsea, they are not going to let that happen at Old Trafford.
In January United will bankroll the signing of just about any central defender available in Europe and beyond, their pockets are deep, therefore if Mourinho wants to gamble his job and reputation on Jose Fonte then it is going to be a succeed or be sacked situation and if results don't improve and a Champions League place becomes unachievable then Mourinho will be gone.
For Fonte that would leave him isolated at Old Trafford with little chance of a first team game and on too big a wages to take a pay cut to go elsewhere, like Rickie Lambert's move to Liverpool it would be great financially but would virtually end his career on the pitch and Internationally.
In a month we will find out what will happen in this situation, from a Saints perspective you can rest assured that they have been scouting for Fonte's replacement and they would see it as good business to get in £10 million for a player who will be 33 and replace him with another Virgil Van Dijk.
It is though a sad ending to Fonte's career at St Mary's which has seen him become a Saints legend and lead the club through the leagues to the top six of the Premier League.