Jose Fonte

José Fonte is a back of Southampton. He was born on 22 December 1983 in Penafiel, Portugal.

In 1993 Fonte became a trainee of the Penafiel academy, which was located in his native town. The back was asked to perform for one of the club’s youth teams before moving to Sporting, which has one of the most prestigious youth systems of Portugal. In 1997 the footballer left it for three years and stayed in the academy of Sacavenense. In 2000 Fonte returned to Sporting and spent two years there, getting ready for the start of his senior career.

In 2002 the back penned a professional contract with ‘Sportinguistas’, but he played only for the reserve team of the club during two years and made 59 appearances. In 2004 Fonte ended his Sporting B spell with Felgueiras move, where he was offered a place in the main team. José spent a year in the new club, featured in 28 games and found the net one time.

In the summer 2005, the footballer joined Vitória Setúbal, where he showed encouraging performance in the first half of the 2005/2006 season before Benfica secured the services of the young Portuguese player. Fonte was immediately sent on loan to Paços Ferreira and made 11 appearances for the temporary team during six months. José spent the 2007/2008 season in Estrela Amadora, featured in 25 fixtures and netted one goal. One year later the footballer left Portugal for England so that to finalize a loan deal with Crystal Palace. Fonte took part in 22 games for the new temporary team and impressed the coaching staff, which decided to pen a contract with the player on permanent basis after the end of his spell in the summer 2008. The back made 60 appearances and fired five goals for the English side team during two seasons. In 2010 José transferred to Southampton and continues to perform for the club up till now. The Portuguese footballer became the pivot of the centre defense and kicked eight goals in more than 100 games for ‘The Saints’ till the summer 2012.

In 2006 Fonte was capped for the Portugal national U-21 squad.