The Times is saying that Jose Fonte is about to invoke a Gentleman's agreement made when he signed his new deal that the club would not stand in his way if he wanted to leave.

Duncan Castles in The Times is saying that Jose Fonte wants to invoke a Gentleman's Agreement he made with the club last season when he signed his new deal keeping him here till 2018.

Now with several clubs apparently after him after the Euro 2016 success he is seeminlgly wanting to take theopportunity.

The Times also say that Fonte is angered that Saints failed to notify him that Everton had made a £9 million bid a few weeks ago.

Although the Gentleman's Agreement was not formally written in the contract and therefore Saints could hold him to the deal, this has not been the way they have done business, allegedly having similar agreements with Morgan Schneiderlin and Victor Wanyama over the past two years when they were approached by Spurs, the club agreed to not stand in their way if they saw another year of their contract out according to The Times.

The reality though is that if Fonte wants to leave then if Saints stood in his way it would be an awkward atmosphere with the player and it could effect squad morale.

Although Fonte is a vital member of the squad, the last two years has shown that no player is irreplacable and indeed it could be an opportunity for Saints to fund a decent chunk of his replacement's transfer fee.

This will send some fans into meltdown and they will accuse the club of lacking ambition and failing to keep players, the reality is that the club would love to keep most of those who have left, but the reality in modern football is that you have to keep moving players on for one reason or another, if Fonte does go to Old Trafford, like those who left before him, he will not be carried kicking and screaming and demanding to be allowed to stay on half the money he will be on with his new club.

The reality is that money talks, loyalty is now a word used much in the Premier League any more.

Photo: Action Images

montecristo added 23:18 - Aug 14 you have to be sympathetic to Fonte this is ishis chance of playing for a major club and being paid huge sums fr doing it. Although I have to say i am not convinced that all of the Saints players big money moves have proved successful i football terms, Schneiderlin for one was always talked about in the press, now he hardly gets a passing mention even when he plays.hes lost his place in the France side also. SRL s career effectively came to an end when he left us. Fonte needs to be careful what he wishes for , if he leaves it ought to be because hes going to be playing for a bigger club and not just making up the numbers. I dont want to be cynical but some of the big clubs are quite happy to deprive lesser clubs of their best merely to weaken the opposition.

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ItchenNorth added 23:27 - Aug 14 Club should just tell him no. It'll be done with then and Fonte will just need to get over it, which I'm sure he will. Balls in our court.
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aceofthebase added 23:31 - Aug 14 Fonte's head has been turned and the money factor wins again. We will all have to get used to it. I hope he can be persuaded to take Soares with him.
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SanMarco added 23:39 - Aug 14 It is becoming absurd being a Saints supporter. Yes, I accept that it is difficult to keep players who want to go but we seem to be spectacularly bad at it - and that 'wanting to go' is encouraged by the club's 'cash-in' psychology. Fonte has watched players leave left, right and centre for years so he would be truly amazed if we suddenly said "You signed a contract mate, don't give me all that gentleman bulls***". We are constantly being assured that players are 'committing their long term futures to the club' with all the new contracts and that is the excuse for us having a weaker team this year (yes it is - those coming in are not, in total, as good as those we've 'cashed-in' on). Those contracts only mean something if both parties believe that they are important. Until we enforce a contract and maybe, just once, do NOT 'cash-in' then this will just go on and on (I think we should have forced Wanyama to stay, if the drop from 20m to 10m was worth it last season then the drop fro 10m to 0 would have been just as worth it - and if he didn't like it he could have gone home to Kenya and given some interviews for a year). What happens if VVD, Long, Forster and Bertrand all decide that their contracts mean no more than Fonte's or Mane's or Uncle Frigging Tom Cobley's? I can imagine Long's cheeky grin when Les says "you are going nowhere my son - oh alright then we'll cash-in. Send in Virgil will you..." I admire those who are still saying "look at the steady improvement" but I have lost the faith and am sick of it. We are all praising the new Danish lad - what's the point, if he is any good he won't be around long....

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amsterdamsaint added 23:59 - Aug 14 Five Year plan, van Dijk 6 years, Foster 5JWP 5, Betrand 5, Long 5 Hidghberg 5 , Redmond 5, Tadic, the rather great Davis 4 years we are strong! 3 years and win the league and sell to Liverhampton for 300% profit. Repeat.
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richsaints added 00:08 - Aug 15 There are no gentleman in football if he's that important to the new manager as he said then surely they have back him and say no otherwise it makes puel look a fool and he needs all the help he can get right now.
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amsterdamsaint added 00:19 - Aug 15 He had just signed a new 3 Year contract. We got the cards. Why did we not sign Paddy McNair? Or Johnny Evans last Year?
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BoondockSaint added 01:36 - Aug 15 First time I have heard the phrase "Gentleman's Agreement " used to mean "If we sell all our best players and couldn't be bothered trying to achieve anything" Montecristo is absolutely right! I've said for years, the game off the field is just as important as the game on the field! It's not just about strengthening your team-it's also about weakening your opponents. That's why the Scouse and Spuds grab our players! It weakens their closest competition the the standings-that's why Koeman wanted Fonte-to rip the heart out the team that would be fighting for the same spot! Besides the fact that I loathe the Scouse, the one team I didn't want Mane to got to was them! In an earlier post I showed how if we didn't have him in the two games against them they would have won both got 6 points,and with us losing it would have been a 10 or 12 point swing in the final standings. One of the rules of sports management ,is never, never, trade within your division or with your competition for trophies! That idiot Les Reed just can't grasp this and makes the same mistake over and over. And please, Nick stop with the "chunk of his replacement's fee" we've seen this movie before! You know the chunk is going in the bank and the spare change is going to find anyone who takes the same shirt size so they don't have to buy a new one!

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zonehead added 08:53 - Aug 15 So it's Redmond for Marne Romue for Wanyams and Austin for Pelle so it's not all bad just that sometimes a player is more important to the club than just playing, and who do we replace Fonte with it would be a big hole in the club. Also I agree with other posts stop selling players to our competitors or else what's the point .
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SaintPaulVW added 08:54 - Aug 15 I think it could be a Lambert moment. He's been brilliant but every players performance drops off at some point. However, if true, the timing is atrocious. Unless there's a cast iron replacement being eyed up, not sure this should be allowed to happen.
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davepid added 09:21 - Aug 15 As a saints fan I can't help but check on the performances of our ex players. It is galling to see all of yesterday's goal scorers except one in arsenal - Liverpool were once ours. The other was on the verge of signing us 3/4 years ago.
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AmericanSaint added 09:21 - Aug 15 If Jose wants to go, you can't keep him because of the potential negative influence in the locker room. HOWEVER, 8-9 Million is a joke. Ashley Williams went for 12M, so Jose should go for at least that and really around 15M. Now, if they sell him for that and spend that money plus 5M, you can buy a younger Fonte for 20M. I know money is the ultimate factor, but never understand why a player goes to a bigger club, just to sit on the bench. I know I could live on 50k/week salary and play every weekend- how about you?

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halftimeorange added 09:40 - Aug 15 As successful players are picked off by the "big six" I wonder what will happen if lesser teams start to be beaten by huge margins. Will supporters react at the unfairness and disillusionment caused by too much money in the game and vote with their feet (i.e., not bother going to matches) or are we all now total victims to the media hype that surrounds what was our most compelling viewing sport? The FA cup has been devalued (despite what dear old Auntie tells us) so, how long before the EPL goes the same way? Or, maybe, this is just a prelude to a Euro Super League whereby all the monied clubs don't play home opposition except each other and all the rest of us go back to Match of the Day (ex-Europe) and 3.00 p.m. Saturday kick-offs. I bloody hope so!

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highfield49 added 09:52 - Aug 15 Hard to disagree with any of the posts on this subject, the bottom line is that supporters are sick of players under contract being poached by competitors. We've become a pretty cynical bunch, with huge justification, and should Fonte sign for Manure this week what's the betting that he will be match fit and raring to go by Friday? Whether or not this happens remains to be seen but the prospect of Yoshi playing against Ibrahimovic is not what I was hoping for last week.

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saintmark1976 added 09:52 - Aug 15 Nick, what has happened to you recently? Not that long ago if we had finished three points shy of a Champions League place and then done what we have during the close season you would have been beside yourself with rage Now you write suggesting that all will be O K if we finish in the top 10 this season and it is perfectly in order to sell any manager or player to any rival club at any time.Put simply, you previously would have been expressing views very similar to SanMarco and BoondockSaint.Views with which I agree. As far as the paying fans are concerned what is the long term future in the board letting us become a feeder club for the top teams? Is it their intention to pile vast sums of money on the centre circle and let us look at that before every game or at some stage are they going to try and compete with our rivals? If the former, then it will not be long before the fans realise that they are being taken for mug punters.If the latter then perhaps it would be better for Kat to attempt to sell the club to someone who actually wants to invest in the team.

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highfield49 added 10:18 - Aug 15 And now rumours suggest Everton are looking to sign Austin. Fringe player with decent profit to be made or important part of the squad under contract and not for sale? If it's the former then we really are amplifying the "selling club" tag once again. And, going back to the Fonte saga why pander to his "dreams"? If he wants to go let him go but to a club outside of league, preferably somewhere in the Ukraine or east of Moscow. Lots of money to made in China I believe.

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SaintCarlos added 12:16 - Aug 15 Totally agree San Marco. We weren't a selling club under her father but now it's an utter joke. I was a season ticket holder and lifelong fan but now I'd rather watch basstostoke for £9!
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TeamCortese added 14:26 - Aug 15 If Fonte leaves then #LiebherrOut. That's the final straw for me. I don't care what anyone says the club's a joke as far as I'm concerned!
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BUCK added 16:35 - Aug 15 What's anyone worrying about. I read what fonte said and he stated he is very happy at saints. The press seem to have lost this part and keep preying on the fact he feel honoured to be linked. Stop worrying people. Fonte going nowhere
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simmo400 added 20:05 - Aug 15 What's the problem. Everyone has there price and 9 mill if true is a great price. He has served us well. Good luck to him and thanks for the memories.
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lemmsy added 22:06 - Aug 15 Some of you have very shirt memories & should be careful wot u wish for . Makes me wonder if u really support the club or just want to Moan come what may .
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