José Fonte

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Personal information
José Fonte
Full name	José Miguel da Rocha Fonte
Date of birth	December 22, 1983 (1983-12-22) (age 24)
Place of birth	Penafiel, Portugal
Height	187 cm
Playing position	Defender
Club information
Current club	Benfica
Youth clubs
?-2002	Sporting Lisbon
Senior clubs¹
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
2002-2003 2003-2004 2004-2005 2005 2006- 2006 2006-2007 2007-2008	Sporting Lisbon Salgueiros F.C. Felgueiras Vitória de Setúbal Benfica →Paços Ferreira (loan) →Estrela Amadora (loan) →Crystal Palace (loan)	0 (0) 28 (1) 15 (0) 1 (0) 11 (1) 25 (1) 22 (1)
National team²
2006	Portugal U21	3 (0)
¹ Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:53, 14 May 2008 (UTC). ² National team caps and goals correct as of 16:57, 16 February 2008 (UTC). * Appearances (Goals)

José Miguel da Rocha Fonte (born December 22, 1983 in Penafiel, Portugal) is a defender, who plays for Benfica of the Portuguese Liga. His brother Rui is currently in the Arsenal youth academy.

He began his career at the Sporting Lisbon youth teams, but didn't make to the first squad so he signed for Salgueiros for the 2003/2004 season. The club was in great financial difficulties so Fonte terminated his contract and moved to F.C. Felgueiras where history repeated itself. In the 2005/2006 season, Fonte signed with Vitória de Setúbal, before joining giants Benfica in January 2006. He was immediately loaned out to Paços de Ferreira for the remainder of that season to get first-team football and then to Estrela da Amadora the following season for more first-team football. The season after that, he was loaned to Crystal Palace for the full season. The Eagles have an option to make the deal permanent at the end of the loan deal.

Fonte then moved on loan to Crystal Palace, in London, to be nearer Rui, though this looked to be an ill-judged move as chances were few and far-between until injuries in the Palace defence gave Fonte a run in side, with him being praised for some strong performances.