Jorge Mendes has been described as a 'super-agent' and is one of the most influential men in football.
Unless you live under a rock, devoid of annoying Manchester United fans, you must have heard about Louis Van Gaal’s sacking from the club and Mourinho's appointment as his successor. However, a name you might not have come across, unless you are an avid football fan, is Jorge Mendes. For the uninitiated, Jorge Mendes is a football ‘super-agent’ and is considered by some to be the sport’s most powerful figure with some of the biggest names among his clients including Ronaldo, Di Maria and Diego Costa.
Now, as Jose Mourinho is set to sign for Manchester United, the spotlight is again back on the former nightclub owner who became one of the most powerful agents in the world. Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson had described Mendes as ‘the best agent he dealt with.’ He said: “Jorge Mendes is the best agent I dealt with, without a doubt. He was responsible, looked after his player and was very fair with clubs”
Jose Mourinho is one of Jorge Mendes' top clients (Getty Images)
Who is Jorge Mendes?
Before he hit the big-time Mendes, failed to make it as a footballer and was rejected by a number of Portuguese clubs. He gave up hopes and ran a video rental store, worked as a DJ and even opened a bar and nightclub.
In 1996, while still a nightclub owner, he negotiated a deal for goalkeeper Nuno Esprito from Vitria Guimares to Deportiva La Coruna, following which he was allowed to move to Porto (Porto and Guimares were bitter rivals and moves were unheard of).
Slowly, he became a man who had relations with Deportivo. As his reputation grew Mendes reportedly had a fist-fight with fellow agent Jose Veiga over attempting to poach Luiz Figo. While he didn’t get Figo, he did manage to prise away Ricardo Quaresma and Ricardo Carvalho from Viega. In time, his influence grew at FC Porto and he helped broker Mourinho’s deal to Chelsea FC the first time around and would later go on to broker deals with Inter Milan and Chelsea, and now with Manchester United.
Cristiano Ronaldo – Mendes’ little brother
Mendes and Ronaldo in September 2013 (Getty Images)
Another player Mendes has been linked with for a long time is Real Madrid ace Cristiano Ronaldo who was a relatively unknown 17-year-old. Playing for Lisbon, Ronaldo mesmerised Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson who was asked by his players to sign the talented youngster.
However, the fact that he was completely unknown is a tad untrue. Mendes had been touting Ronaldo to a host of clubs including Arsenal.
While Arsenal were willing to pay £5 million, Ferguson paid more than double the amount for the talented youngster who’d go on to mesmerise world football. Ferguson promised Mendes that Ronaldo would play 50% of the games at Manchester United (other European clubs wanted to give him back to Sporting for loan).
Mendes has often been praised for acting 'fairly'. In fact, it’s believed that he get along so well with Ronaldo that the latter was best man at Mendes’ wedding and even bought his agent a small Greek island!
Mendes would become close to former Man Utd CEO Carlos David Gill and also his assistant Carlos Quieroz and help in signing on Nani, Anderson and Bebe. He made a great deal of money when Ronaldo signed for Real Madrid for a staggering £80 million. His clients who ended up at Manchester United also include Angel Di Maria, David De Gea and Radamel Falcao.
Mendes’ current client list could give any team in the world a run for its money. Here are his top talents:
- Jose Mourinho
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- James Rodriguez
- Angel Di Maria
- Diego Costa
- Thiago Silva
- William Carvalho
- Pepe
- Fabio Coentrao
- David de Gea
- Anderson
- Ricardo Carvalho
- Joao Moutinho
- Anthony Martial
- Ezequiel Garay
- Eliaquim Mangala
- Nicolas Otamendi
- Bebe (Benfica)
- Radamel Falcao
- Renato Sanches
Louis Van Gaal v/s Mendes – a battle in the background
Mendes' client Radamel Falcao, had a forgettable time at Old Trafford (Getty Images)
Some see Mourinho’s appointment as Manchester United manager, in place of Louis Van Gaal, as revenge for LVG mistreating Falcao (whose loan deal wasn’t made permanent), De Gea (who was dropped to the bench when he wanted to leave for Real) and Di Maria (who was sold after just one disappointing season).
Van Gaal and Mendes never saw eye to eye and the major reason for that was the former’s treatment of Falcao, who one must point out, couldn’t even be revived by Mourinho at Chelsea. When Van Gaal excluded Falcao from the match day squad for United’s defeat to Southampton, Mendes opined that the Colombian would have played 90 minutes of the match, every time, with any other club.
When Falcao played, Mendes still wasn’t happy and said: “He is a champion. I miss Ferguson at Manchester United. With him and this squad the situation would be different. I know that if they give Falcao five complete matches, I am convinced that he would score goals in practically all of those matches."
Angel Di Maria was sold after 11 months at Old Trafford (Getty Images)
Another client who never got along with Van Gaal was Angel Di Maria, who was signed from Real Madrid. Di Maria was signed for Premier League for a record £59.7 million but somehow went from a Champions League winning winger to a clue-less player in the space of 11 months. Di Maria was punted all over the field and even spent a lot of time on the bench, as he was summed up as another player unable to adapt to Van Gaal's philosophy.
Di Maria said about his time at Manchester United: “I started a game in a position, and then the next one I would be in another. I scored goals playing in one position, and then suddenly the next game I was picked to play in a different position. It's more that they didn't let me settle properly than I couldn't settle. I left a team that was out of the European competition and far away from being champions of the Premier League.”
Another battle that rankled Mendes, was how his client David De Gea was treaded by Van Gaal. LVG dropped De Gea to the bench for lacking focus when he wanted a move away to Real Madrid. The situation turned into a real fiasco, as Madrid’s fax machine malfunctioned and Mendes managed to negotiate a new contract for David De Gea at Old Trafford.
Re-instated into the team, De Gea was Manchester United’s Player of the Season for the third year in a row, and reports suggested that De Gea was unwilling to stay at Manchester United if Louis Van Gaal remained manager. With the arrival of Jose Mourinho, Mendes has again strengthened his position at United and it’s unlikely that David De Gea will wrangle for a move under current circumstances.
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