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

REEDYREEDOREEDZ added 20:48 - Jan 21 Fonte engineered the move. He appointed Mendez as his agent to get him to a top club. He told Saints in the summer he wanted to leave, the club offered him a new deal but he turned it down so the club agreed to sell him in January. January comes, Jose hands in his formal transfer request, only now none of the big clubs are interested, and there's no turning back. West Ham will have to do! Jose will look back and know he made a mistake. He might think he should've pressed for a move in 2015! Or he might think he should've stayed at Saints and become a 100% legend. He's disappointed, the clubs disappointed, we're all disappointed. A shitty situation. He should've stayed and still would've retired a multimillionaire. The club have had months to get the black box working and find a replacement and we're already 21 days into January, time is running out! I wonder how many players they've bid for? It's a bad time to do business but they knew this was coming. And as for needing a striker......

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BoondockSaint added 02:33 - Jan 22 Yep, Saints "had to sell" because God forbid they have anyone around that cares about the club! Can't wait for Jose to write his book when he retires. "had no time to line up a replacement" HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA they knew all summer they needed to "line up" replacements for Pelle, Mane, and their 23 goals and did damn all!! Silence from the club when they don't sign decent players. Silence when they keep getting turned down by managers who could build on the last two years success. But now when Fonte leaves, suddenly Les is like set of chattering teeth from a joke shop! So now this crap season is going to be blamed on Fonte, right? When he didn't even play?? This is just Les trying to deflect fans attention from the fact we have no where near the talent that we had when we came up from the Championship. Anyone know how the Chinese investment is going?

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pintsizedsaint added 09:54 - Jan 22 Sorry Bondock Saint but I have to take issue with this: "...anyone around who cares about the club." Do you know Fonte? Did he tell you this? Is this the same Fonte you speak about who alluded to the fact that he would be amenable to going to Man U last summer? Who handed in a transfer request? "Silence from the club when they don't sign decent players". ???! What would you like them to do? Tell you they've bought rubbish? Tell you all the times they tried to get a player but it fell through? "silence when they keep getting turned down by managers". Who? The only suggested rebuttal was Emery - who went to manage PSG ffs! Nobody is saying the season is down to Fonte. But Fonte's situation has hardly helped has it? If you burn your toast in the morning do you blame that on Les Reed too?

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Saintsfc added 10:58 - Jan 22 The amount of Saints fans that show ridiculous blind faith is what feeds this pathetic principles that Southampton have. We could literally sell our entire squad hire people like me (grass root semi-pro footballers) and the amount of people including the author of this article that would defend that decision is scary... Almost comical.. Just look at the comment above, absolutely crazy..

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patred added 15:01 - Jan 22 The club has had since the end of the European Nations cup to find a replacement. So where is this replacement? Is infamous black box empty?
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BoondockSaint added 23:50 - Jan 22 Hello pintsized! Sorry it took a while to get back to you as I was scraping the burnt toast! Let me present my take on this whole sordid affair: No,I do not know Jose nor has he told me anything (tried the Vulcan Mind Meld on his official picture on the clubs site.......no good. Think that Klingon Les is using a cloaking device!). However I do think actions speak louder than words. He joined and lead us up the leagues in an age when most players (and you can't blame them) would have left for bigger teams in bigger leagues. I can't cite exact quotes, but seem to remember reading quotes from players saying he was a great leader on and off the field, helped them get sorted when they arrived, etc. I think there was a team reaction of outrage when Osvaldo nutted him, in an era when teams usually take the part of the higher paid player. Are you agreeing that our signings have been rubbish and that is the reason for the silence? Fair enough, but it still lacks class slagging a player who has been a great servant over the years. OK, so Emery was the only one who "officially" turned us down, but we seemed to be getting "not interested" quotes from the big names who were on most fans lists: De Boer, Pellegrini, Villas-Boas, Howe....these were the ones you would expect to be interested in a really up and coming club...but they must have heard through the grapevine no decent replacements for Pelle and Mane were coming. While Les may be only taking orders from Katharina,One thing I do blame him for is the hole in the ozone getting larger---just look at the picture Nick keeps posting of him giggling as he asphyxiates Kruger and those poor women as he releases more methane into the atmosphere!! Take care, The Boondocker

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SaintBrock added 09:14 - Jan 23 Well, there you go, sell Fonte and van Dyke gets crocked... plenty of warnings this could happen Les and now it has. You sir are an embarrassment to our club! You have no idea of planning that's for sure. Yoshida & Stephens as CD, the rest of the PL must be terrified!
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