Super-agent Jorge Mendes was the orchestrator behind a move that would have seen Sporting Lisbon midfielder Matheus Nunes move to Everton, as reported by A Bola.
Is there a more powerful man in the transfer market than Jorge Mendes?
This is a guy who took Cristiano Ronaldo to Manchester United, Real Madrid and then Juventus. A guy whose Gestifute stable is home to so many of football’s pedigree stallions.
Just look at the progress made by Wolverhampton Wanderers, a mid-table Championship club when Mendes started to take an interest in the Molineux-based outfit and then Europa League quarter-finalists just two years later.
Not content with pulling the strings at Wolves, The Athletic reports Mendes has been attempting to make his mark at Everton too.
Has Matheus Nunes’ Everton move fallen through?
Nuno Espirito Santo famously became Mendes’ first client all the way back in 1996, when he was a nightclub owner looking to make his mark in a new field.
Football’s greatest move-maker was, therefore, at the heart of a deal that would have seen Nuno replace Carlo Ancelotti as Everton’s manager.
The Athletic adds, however, some members of the Toffees board were concerned that appointing Nuno would lead to an influx of Mendes clients among the playing staff too.
And it’s interesting to note that, after the board threw their weight behind Rafa Benitez instead, speculation linking a highly rated Brazilian with a move to Merseyside has all but disappeared.
In mid-June, Record claimed Everton were on the verge of signing 22-year-old Matheus Nunes from Portuguese champions Sporting Lisbon.
But since the Toffees got cold feet and distanced themselves from Mendes, the Nunes deal appears to have stopped in its tracks.
Coincidence? Perhaps.
No Mendes may mean no Nuno. No Mendes may mean no Nunes too.
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