It is strongly rumoured that Paul Lambert left Wolves due to Mendes’ transfer involvement, while new manager Nuno Espirito Santo is a Mendes client.
Wolverhampton Wanderers managing director Laurie Dalrymple has quashed claims that super-agent Jorge Mendes is heading the recruitment policy at Molineux, despite strong rumours that he very much is, as reported by BT Sport.
The Telegraph reported that former manager Paul Lambert agreed to leave his position at the club after learning that Wolves’ new Chinese owners, Fosun, had placed Mendes in charge of recruitment, and he would have the final say on transfers.
Mendes assisted with player recruitment last season and had a helping hand in the signings of Helder Costa, Ivan Cavaleiro, Cameron Borthwick-Jackson and Silvio, while new manager Nuno Espirito Santo is a client of the super-agent.
However, Dalrymple has moved to put the record straight on the allegations, and flatly denied that Mendes is in charge of transfer policy at the club as it’s simply not allowed, though the managing director did go on to say that Mendes is a very good friend of Fosun.
“Jorge Mendes is not in charge of the recruitment of this club,” Dalrymple said, as reported by BT Sport. “He can’t be. That is point one. It is not within the rules. However, is he a known associate of the owners? Yes he is. He is a friend and he has been for some time.
“There has never been any secret about that. It is a comment Jeff (Shi, director) has made on more than one occasion. Are we any different to any other club as to how we operate our recruitment plan? No, we are probably not. We have a very established team within the club headed by Kevin (Thelwell, sporting director).
“We have a team who look at players from any number of sources, including Jorge and Gestifute (his company). The bottom line is we want the best players to come into this club to take this team forward, no matter where they come from. If the man in the moon is good enough, we will look at him and look to sign him.”
Despite what Dalrymple claims, Mendes’ involvement with Wolves is clearly huge, as demonstrated by Santo’s decision to leave FC Porto – a side he guided to second in the Primeira Liga and to the last 16 of the Champions League – to join a Championship side.
Wolves finished 15th in the Championship last season, just five points above the relegation zone, and only secured their safety with a few matches to play.
A lot of eyes will be monitoring their progress next season given their summer activity so far.
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