West Ham Fan View: Did the Hammers make the right decision in signing Jose Fonte?

It was not the signing that many of us expected going into the January transfer window, but a signing that many of us have welcomed. Rather than our first signing being a right-back or a striker, West Ham have signed Jose Fonte from Southampton for a reported £8m.

Fonte’s decision to hand in a transfer request earlier in the month was not entirely surprising. He has been with Southampton since 2010, playing 260 times for the club, and has been one of the most consistent centre-backs in the Premier League since Southampton’s promotion in 2012. Given that both Manchester United and Liverpool needed centre-backs before the season had begun, we did expect that one of these clubs would make a move for Fonte. It made perfect sense. But that did not materialise and neither of these clubs appeared to be interested in signing the Portuguese international this window, allowing us to sign Fonte with ease.

So was signing Fonte the right decision? Yes. Although he is 33 years old and his Southampton contract was expiring in the summer, we cannot afford to miss out on signing players proven in the Premier League. We took risks in the summer and most of them have not paid off.

Let’s not forget the vast amount of experience that Fonte will bring to our defence. He has shown that he can perform in the biggest games with Fonte starting all of Portugal’s knockout games in Euro 2016. Our defence has also lacked leadership in many games this season with players being out of position and making the wrong decisions. Fonte will bring leadership to the team and he will be an excellent mentor for the likes of Reece Oxford and Reece Burke.

Slaven Bilic also revealed that Angelo Ogbonna “needs an operation on his knee to be fit long-term” (BBC) and this would rule him out for the rest of the season. This made the signing of a centre-back crucial with Ogbonna being a key player in the team. Another centre-back also means that should Bilic want to go back to a back three, we no longer have to play Cheikhou Kouyate in defence and can keep him in his best position.

I have been critical of West Ham’s transfer strategy in this window but signing Fonte has been excellent business. A centre-back partnership of Winston Reid and Fonte should solidify our defence and ensure our top-half finish.