Southampton: Fonte latest; Striker could leave; Tadic shines in new role

By grvadmin

Jose Fonte is likely to remain at St Marys for the coming season after it has emerged that he isn’t Jose Mourinho’s first choice signing. The Telegraph reports that Mourinho is focused on signing Raphael Varane, who he worked with at Real Madrid, meaning that Fonte has fallen down the pecking order.

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Spanish outlet AS, who broke the news, claim that United will have to sell to balance the books before bidding for Varane. Fonte, however, would only cost around £10 million and the deal could go ahead without offloading any big names.

The Portuguese has been “tempted” by big clubs before so only time will tell if Southampton can keep hold of him.

Charlie Austin is another potential name on the departures list. A reunion with Ronald Koeman, the man who brought him to Southampton, could be a possibility according to The Mirror.

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Koeman signed Austin in January for around £4 million and is keen to link up with the striker at his new club Everton.

With the possibility of Romelu Lukaku leaving, Koeman supposedly wants to recruit a powerful centre forward.

Austin could be the ideal candidate amid concerns about his future at St Marys under new boss Claude Puel, with the Frenchman preferring to convert Nathan Redmond to a striker than start Austin against Watford at the weekend.

Naturally, football is a squad game, but big spending Everton could be a tempting proposition and Southampton could be inclined to sell for a large fee.

Dusan Tadic definitely won’t be leaving St Marys this summer after signing a new four-year contract, and his performance against Watford at the weekend proved that it could be one of the Saints best deals this summer.

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Tadic was the driving force behind everything attacking for Southampton. The Serbian created six chances in the game, more than any other player in the Premier League. He also had four attempts on goal and six attacking dribbles, continually proving a genuine threat with the ball at his feet.

Converting Tadic to a more central role could be a masterstroke by Claude Puel if he maintains his form from the Watford game.

Even Twitter was impressed with his performances:

https://twitter.com/Otoide_A_/status/765230751323488256

Featured image: All rights reserved by Aries Arsenal

Will also writes for Football Ticket Net, his choice for Southampton tickets