Claude Puel insists Jose Fonte not affected by Manchester United transfer rumours

With Luke Shaw fully fit and the first choice left back, United boss Jose Mourinho would like an experienced centre back and is prepared to use Rojo as a makeweight for any deal.

Fonte joined Southampton from Crystal Palace in 2010.

He said: “I like players to have good concentration on the current game rather than history and many details we can improve step by step for the future”.

“There is no problem with Jose Fonte”.

“I say it was interesting to see my team with a different philosophy of the strong, physical, long-ball style of Watford”, Puel said. He is a very good professional and has trained well this week.

But his side will come up against a new-look Manchester United outfit, boasting the likes of world record signing Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

“I keep saying that I don’t talk about players from other clubs. I made the decision to stay, the right decision”, Varane said, as quoted by the Manchester Evening News.

“He’s a fantastic player and of course he can score without opportunities”.

Fonte has played nearly 250 league games in six years for Southampton and starred for Portugal during Euro 2016 earlier this summer. He can score without opportunities and it is hard to take him. “It is important to bring a collective answer for their team”.

Both Darmian and Fosu-Mensah also crucially fit into the so-called “Mourinho template” in term of defensive players – with both standing at over six foot, possessing pace in abundance, and maintaining a calm head both on the ball and whilst defending.

Varane and Leonardo Bonucci were Mourinho’s prime targets to add experience to the back line at United, but the duo have declined a chance to move to England, with the former confirming his intentions to remain with the Spanish capital club.