Manchester United Transfer News: Jose Fonte Rejects Red Devils, Latest Rumours

Southampton defender Jose Fonte has reportedly decided to turn down Manchester United in favour of signing a new deal with the Saints.

According to the Mirror's Alex Smith, Fonte held "clear-the-air" talks with chairman Ralph Krueger and director of football Les Reed and will now enjoy a £25,000-per-week wage rise, taking his weekly pay packet to £70,000.

Southampton manager Claude Puel spoke about the situation in his press conference on Thursday:

Per Smith, the Red Devils had been preparing an £8 million bid for his services.

The centre-back is a seasoned operator with well over 100 Premier League appearances under his belt, as well as experience in the Championship, League One and the Portuguese top flight.

He also played all four of Portugal's knockout-stage games at UEFA Euro 2016 as they went on to lift the trophy.

Fortunately for United, they were not in desperate need of his services, as noted by Rob Dawson of the Manchester Evening News:

Along with impressive new signing Eric Bailly, the Red Devils can also count Chris Smalling and Daley Blind among their senior options in defence—unless they're particularly unfortunate with injuries or suspensions, they should be able to cope with the amount of cover they have.

Meanwhile, according to Sam Wallace of the Daily Telegraph, Juan Mata "has reached an understanding" with manager Jose Mourinho that he is to remain at Old Trafford for the time being—at least until the squad is reviewed again in January—although he won't be a first-choice starter.

After the Special One sold him at Chelsea in 2014, Mata's position looked under threat when Mourinho arrived at Old Trafford in May. His substitution in the Community Shield—having only come on as a substitute 27 minutes prior—further fuelled speculation.

However, he has since started United's first two Premier League games of the season and scored the first league goal of the Mourinho era at the club.

Frank Augstein/Associated Press

As Squawka Football revealed, he has even had a new lease of life in his defensive work rate, which Wallace noted had been an issue with the Spaniard:

It seems likely he will lose his place to new signing Henrikh Mkhitaryan, though. The Armenian has played just half an hour across three substitute appearances thus far in 2016/17, but football writer Liam Canning believes he deserves a starting berth:

The 27-year-old notched 23 goals and 32 assists in all competitions last season—it seems to be only a matter of time until he's starting every week at his new club.

Mata is an exceptionally talented player in his own right, though, and he's shown he can be useful under Mourinho, who would be wise to keep him around.