A West Ham insider has confirmed that there is interest from China in defender Jose Fonte, but stopped short of claiming that a deal has been completed as reported elsewhere.
ExWHUemployee, who is an established source for exclusive insider information on West Ham, made the claim on Twitter on Thursday afternoon.
When asked if the reports surrounding Fonte were true, ExWHUemployee replied: “Yes there is definite interest from there.”
Yes there is definite interest from there ? https://t.co/1jjpfFSySn
— ExWHUEmployee (@ExWHUEmployee) February 22, 2018
As reported by the Daily Record, 34-year-old enforcer Fonte is set to jet out on Monday to complete a move to Chinese Super League side Dalian Yifang.
The newspaper claim that Fonte will join Dalian for a fee of £4.9million, and will sign a three-year deal worth £3.54million-a-year.
First-team star Fonte has been plagued by a serious ankle injury this season that has kept him out since November, but has made 24 appearances in all competitions since joining from Southampton last January.
OPINION
This is an interesting development in the Fonte transfer, as Ex seems to suggest that a deal is not completed, as suggested by the Record report. It would however suggest that a deal is indeed close to being completed, and therefore that West Ham are about to make a big mistake. Fonte’s return from injury was supposed to be a boost to the club’s squad, not their coffers, and this move could come back to bite them in the next few months.