Wolverhampton Wanderers are sitting at the top of the Championship table pretty comfortably, having garnered 62 points from 27 games, and have a healthy lead of 10 points over second-placed Derby County. Under the tutelage of Nuno Espirito Santo, the Wolves have been delightful to watch and no wonder they have emerged as the firm favourites to clinch the Championship silverware.
Espirito Santo is unlikely to take anything in a complacent manner and is expected to be busy this month to strengthen his side. He has already lured Rafa Mir from Valencia to strengthen his attacking options and considering that the second-half of the season might bring some twists and turns, he is reportedly looking to fortify his defence and is interested to sign Jose Fonte from West Ham United.
Fonte was signed by the Hammers from Southampton in the January transfer window of 2017. So far this season, he has featured merely 8 times in the league for the London-based club owing to his ankle injury. He is still sidelined after his ankle surgery and is yet to play for West Ham United’s first-team since the 2-2 draw against local rivals, Crystal Palace, at the back end of October.
David Moyes already has the likes of Angelo Ogbonna, Winston Reid and James Collins in his defensive ranks. Further, with the emergence of youngster Reece Burke, Fonte’s chances to start games are likely to be severely affected. With the World Cup not being very far away, the 34-year-old does need to get regular game time to if he wishes to play on the grandest stage of them all.
Wolverhampton Wanderers already have many Portuguese players in their ranks and their apparent interest to sign Fonte is something which is really intriguing. They have been quite resilient at the back but there might be no harm to better the quality at the back further by bringing someone as capable as Fonte to the Molineux Stadium before the transfer window shuts.
Although injuries have been an issue for Fonte, it has to be stated that he is a fine player when he is fit. He has truckloads of experience under his belt and given that he has acclimatized himself to the Premier League very well, he could really be a handy addition. Espirito Santo might be looking beyond the ongoing season and thus, by making the Portuguese international sign on the dotted line, they would certainly meet their needs of this season as well as the coming ones.
