With the announcement that Jose Fonte had officially joined West Ham United bringing to a close a sorry chapter in what had up until the start of the season a great career for Saints, it emphasised the cold fact that when a player wants out it is hard to keep him.

The whole truth is yet to come out as to why Jose Fonte up until last summer a man committed to Saints cause suddenly returned from the European Championships wanting away.

Saints caught on the hop held firm and refused to let him move on, mainly because they had had no time to line up a replacement, they needed Fonte but they were unprepared for what would happen over the next few months as the relationship between the player and the club deteriorated to a point where the club felt it counter productive to have him in the squad and felt it better to sell him than have him in the dressing room.

Back in August Saints thought that e would be professional and indeed in the early days after the window had closed he was and no one could question his commitment, but as the January window approached the club became more concerned about his attitude.

They were not happy that rumours about United and Liverpool still persisted in the media, someone was putting them there and it wasn't the club, it was ll part of a plan to give the impression that Fonte was in demand and therefore push up potential fees and wages, the only winner from this would be the players agent.

As we have now found, Manchester United and Liverpool the two clubs that were going to be desperately knocking on the St Mary's door come January 1st were not interested and even Everton another who were being linked didn't want to know.

This left the player with a choice between West Brom and West Ham, hardly a step up, yes perhaps West Ham in the longer term might offer a better chance of glory given their stadium capacity and the ability that brings, but in the short term the Hammers have nothing to play for this season.

Anyone who asks why Fonte would want to move can now answer with fair accuracy, it is all about money, if he had stayed put at Saints he had a shot at a Wembley appearance with the team going to Anfield with a 1-0 lead next week and they could have done with his being in the side.

So the reason for the move is centred on the player wanting to get one last payday with probably only one more season left in him as a regular in the Premier League.

That means that in the longer term Saints are getting a good deal financially from this, they are getting £8 million plus the possibility of a couple more with add ons, for a player whose value will be virtually nil in a years time.

But in the short term it has not been good, the side could have done with the Fonte of old on several occasions this season and not least now, but that is not the fault of the club.

Some fans questioned why Fonte was not played in Europe and suggested that the club was keeping him from being cup tied when he went to Manchester United, that is now shown as not being the case, Fonte's absence from Europe was for reasons not yet disclosed.

There are those who will want to use his departure as a reason to beat the club and in particular Les Reed and Claude Puel around the head with a sharp stick, but you have to consider that although it is common knowledge that Puel and Fonte did not get on, that the player and his agent were demanding a move via the press before Fonte had arrived back from his extended break after the Euros, at that point he had yet to meet Puel let alone fall out with him.

But the whole sorry situation highlights why so many players have left St Mary's and indeed many other clubs, it seems worse for us because our success has put our players in demand, but the reality is that is the price we have to pay, once a player has his head turned with wages that we cannot afford to pay him and the chance of a Champions League spot (that in itself brings even more money) it is hard to keep him.

Players these days have no loyalty to their clubs, it is always only a stepping stone, it is just for some it becomes the highest stepping stone they can attain, with respect to Maya Yoshida I would rather have had Lovren and Alderweireld for a year apiece followed by two years of Virgil in our team than four years of admitedly a good loyal servant but not the quality of player.

This is the path we must take going forward, for the reason it is the only viable one these days, we cannot hold players, we have seen the likes of Nathaniel Clyne and Wanyama refuse new deals meaning we had to sell them before they got in the last year of their contract, they refused to sign for a reason, they know how to play the transfer market game.

So we have to move forward, this has been a sad week for Southampton Football Club, but we will march on, but it has made many of fall out of love with the game a little, we trusted Jose Fonte we thought he was a cut above some of the mercenaries in the game today, we have found out he wasn't.

He should have been a Saints legend, he might just have held up a trophy in a little over a month at Wembley, instead he is far happier with a bigger bank balance !

Photo: Action Images

highfield49 added 11:00 - Jan 21 Agreed Nick, time to move on. My view is that Fonte chose not to play in Europe because he still believed the rubbish hype from his agent that he would be going to Manure this month. Sorry Jose you burnt your bridges and must be feeling like a complete fool this morning.
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pintsizedsaint added 11:12 - Jan 21 Spot on Nick. Southampton have always been clear about how we think we can initially compete with the big boys: identify and attract high quality talent, develop them and sell on. Over time that has worked. Now SFC are looking at attracting and persuading some of the talent to stay. Krueger's article in Germany spelled it out using Hojbjberg as an example. 5 years ago he wouldn't have even looked at this club as a destination. Now SFC are looking at whether players like him may stay for longer. Signs are encouraging: VVD reported in foreign press that he is very settled at Saints (strange that didn't get the airtime with the media...!). And so Fonte. perhaps the sharp rise of VVD put his nose out of joint. I agree Nick that the thought of a big pay day (just like many of his former team mates) was probably a big factor here. What we now have is more stability. VVD may well become club captain. Or Steve Davis (which would be a great shout). Time for us to move on in this transitional year As for Fonte

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RednWight added 11:24 - Jan 21 If the club didn't have time to replace him in the summer but knew he'd likely leave now what's the excuse for not having a replacement in already ?
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LordDZLucan added 11:27 - Jan 21 At the end of the day Fonte shouldn’t have moved in January full stop. He’s the club captain for Christ’s sake. We keep getting destabilised in transfer windows and I for one am getting fed up with it. That great ‘we’re all in it together’ feeling that we had back in the League 1 days, through the Championship and on into the early years of being in the Premier League has gone. I’m a shell of my former self at games now. I sit there and go through the motions. I now don’t want to feel a bond with the players because I know they’re going to be gone if they’re any good. I yearn for the days back in League 1.

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dixiefrog added 11:34 - Jan 21 Move on, move on, Jose is no different to any other professional footballer or indeed anyone in the street, given a chance to increase your wages by 50, 100% or more who amongst us wouldn't jump at the chance, especially if it meant doing the same job. Time now to concentrate on the remainder of the season and enjoy BOTH cup tournaments. Up the Saints!
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dirk_doone added 11:44 - Jan 21 You just don't get it, do you, Nick? Les Reed sold Fonte because he wanted the transfer fee. If he'd let him stay, he wouldn't have got one. He sold Pelle and Lambert for the same reason. He sold Mane because he couldn't resist a big offer from Liverpool. He'll sell van Dijk for the same reason. # Les Reed Trading Company. If you really believe Les Reed's PR spin about the players falling out with Fonte because he was 'Billy Big Bollocks' then how do you explain this??? Virgil van Dijk ‏@VirgilvDijk 14h14 hours ago Thank you champ for everything you have done for me and also for the club, was a pleasure to play with you! #saintslegend #champ #gutted

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Hugh_Jarce added 11:45 - Jan 21 Fonte's gone from local hero to muppet in just 6 months by acting like a tool with the club and chasing the dollar. Thought he was bigger than that.
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SanMarco added 11:46 - Jan 21 The truth is we don't know what happened. I would tend to agree with the 'let's move on' in the comments above and in the article and certainly there is nothing known that should allow us to do nasty things with the sharp stick. I do, however, find it strange that the Fonte saga is being used to weave a 'this is the Southampton Way' and 'this is why we always have to sell' narrative. I tend to agree with Nick that, on the whole, we do have little choice with the Clynes etc and those who, like me, moan when they are sold are speaking more with our hearts than our intellects. HOWEVER - (and I fully accept that this my pet theory on this) I believe big mistakes were made in the weeks between NC going and just after MoPo departing that led to the current culture at the club. The first person to go wasn't Lovren or Lallana - it was Ricky Lambert. I can see a situation where, with Manure rumours flying, Fonte said "I have been a loyal servant just like Ricky - I would like to go in the same way". We saw MS and Wanyama having to wait a year because they didn't join the queue at the exit quickly enough - perhaps Fonte felt he was too old to serve a year's notice. Once, after Lambert, we let Lovren go having been with us just a year, the ball was rolling and it hasn't stopped since. For those that say RL, club legend, Liverpool fan blah blah I say that is sentiment not 'business sense'. Say no to RL and Lovren and you have a club with at least some control. It was just a few weeks at the end of that season, and we can blame who we like but it, in my very speculative (but no more speculative than the article) view it led to the Fonte saga. The 'cash in' philosophy has morphed into one of choice (the Southampton Way) as much as necessity and of course the new players are happy with that, if Hojberg had been any good over the past few months he would already be 'linked' and we would all shrug and say 'what can you do' - I don't know the answer to that question and will now stop rambling... For what its worth I wish Fonte luck - I hope he is Wet Spam's man of the match in lots of defeats in the coming weeks.

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the_saint added 11:51 - Jan 21 Only vvd left for the big 6 then we move on too phase 2 selling Bertrand long Davis any co to the Everton's West Ham's etc then we enter the final phase 3 of our 5 year plan to sell to relegation battlers our Redmond and prowse... ..we march on
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the_saint added 11:52 - Jan 21 I was jesting but I think all us saints fans need a pick me up wether it's a couple of signings or a cup final
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dirk_doone added 11:54 - Jan 21 Carroll, I think she'll sell the club before it's relegated and loses all its value. She's been hawking it round for 200 million and she knows she won't get that for a Championship club. But, you're right, we won't have any players worth selling left by then, as Les is under instruction to keep making a profit in the transfer market right to the bitter end.
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Bettwsresident added 12:03 - Jan 21 carroll, a win tomorrow and getting past liverpool to the final and Fonte will be history. He has been superb for saints, but was end played by his agent. Just a shame he went to wet spam.
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highfield49 added 12:16 - Jan 21 dirk doone, do you lead your entire life in a pit of negativity? Next you'll be saying Les Reed is under instruction to sell players at a loss just so as Kat can hasten it's demise. Losing Fonte isn't the end of the world or the end of the club we all support. Just supposing Les brings in a couple of decent players in the coming days are you going to say that there is some hidden conspiracy to improve the club to hasten it's sale? None of us enjoy seeing the players that we gave everything to support walk away for a more money but it really isn't the club to blame it's greed and agents that rule not loyalty. And VVD goes on social media with kind words for Fonte, where is the social media post from Fonte thanking Saints fans for all the support over the last seven years?

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saintmark1976 added 12:26 - Jan 21 Nick.Your reading of the situation may well be correct but in truth only Fonte and the the management of S F C have the full facts so we are all just surmising. All I can add is that it could be a very interesting season ticket renewal window in the summer given that there appears to be no end to the "Southampton Way" of selling players to the opposition. Will fans continue to renew knowing full well that they can expect more of the same? Somehow I doubt it.

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Saintcole7 added 13:01 - Jan 21 Nick, I admire your optimism, but I feel we have been fed too many red herrings this season, firstly, when Sammy Lee was employed one of the reasons given was he was "independent" of the Koemans for consistency if they left yet he was sacked when they left? We were told only weeks ago Fonte would only leave once we had a replacement? All the "extra" games due to Europe, in truth you can argue it was 3 extra games, play your strongest team in the first 4 European games and win your through, you can play kids in the last 2 and remember we got a bye in the first league cup game. All this concern that if we changed manager we would become Swansea, I would suggest a lot of Swansea's problems were due to cashing in on an"old" centre half by the name of A Williams who was their captain and leader who was not replaced, sound familiar? Any way come 01.09.17 I think we will have a team of what you descibe as "Yoshida" types as Fraser, Ryan, VVD and probably Cedric will all be sold, I pray to God I'm wrong?

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steve73 added 13:06 - Jan 21 Saints have had to sell? Only because the precedent has been set so many sodding times already. We're actively nurturing a culture at the club of foot stamping, tantrum throwing little boys, regardless of age. Like petulant, badly raised kids refusing to do what they're told and causing a scene in public. Maybe if they ever grow up they'll look back and feel ashamed. I doubt it. Rotten to the core, spoilt little shites.

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WanderingSaint added 13:12 - Jan 21 Make no mistake, club legend as he is, this is a fantastic deal for the club.
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Saintcole7 added 13:28 - Jan 21 How is this a fantastic deal if he's not replaced, each league place we finish higher is worth how much? What happens if VVD is injured at the beginning of Feb? We have NO top premier league centre halfs at the club and the £8m will be peanuts as with no strike force and no defence we slip down the league? True madness and short sightedness if you ask me?
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Saintsfc added 13:58 - Jan 21 I have always been a loyal and passionate Southampton Fc supporter but in no way shape or form does that make me deluded. The clubs administration and philosophies are a joke as is the person who rights these articles every week. RIP Mr Liebherr, a man who appreciated the beautiful game for what it is.. 'A GAME' not a business.
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kingolaf added 14:12 - Jan 21 So it's all about money on Fonte's part is it? Not about the board creaming themselves over another £8million, and Fonte having a poor relationship with our joke of a manager. Your usual unbalanced ramblings Nick, embarrassing.
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1970 added 15:27 - Jan 21 Anyone who thinks we can compete in the richest league in the world with Maya Yoshida in the team is totally deluded and with no replacement except youngsters or Gardos we are relegation fodder and as a previous comment stated, it will be very interesting when season tickets are renewed
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StRipper added 16:49 - Jan 21 Highfield49 I'm with you on this. Such overriding pessimism attacking the club and all this faux significance about Fonte leaving. I think for the last 3 seasons I felt Fonte was about done and he's proved me wrong each time. Good for him. And good for him earning us 8m minimum at 33. On the other hand, I can't think of any player we could have kept who left. When we do keep them, it's non news, such as Schneiderlin last season. If anyone is at fault here it's Fonte and the way he's agitated to move and, throughout, the club has conducted itself with dignity and even worked to protect Fontes reputation when, to be honest, maybe he didn't deserve it. Good luck to him though. Shame he never had the decency to thank the fans. Who are we anyway...

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Jesus_02 added 16:55 - Jan 21 Anyone that truly believes that saints didn't want to sell (transition out) Fonte is barking mad. Its far to simple to pass off why he wasn't played in Europe. For the last player that was part of the fantastic journey, Our Team Captan, our Club Captain , European Championship winner to be denied the opportunity to play for Saints in Europe is absolutely mind boggling. The Clu have engineered it to look like a betrayal , but real betrayal happens most summers now. I for one am seriously doubting "the Southampton way" . And I'm not the only one. When we cant sell out cut price home cup ties we need to ask the big questions.... Is this good soccernomics? Will Gardos ever return from injury? Will we ever get an Ice rink for Freddy to play ice hocky on?

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SanMarco added 16:57 - Jan 21 He has sent an 'emotional' letter to us now - look on the Echo
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Redrum added 20:02 - Jan 21 It used to be exciting times.Great vibe, exciting managers....I'm afraid we've become a victim of our own success and have been forced to become like everyone other middle of the road team.Either accept it and hope for the best or its guna get u down
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