Arguably the most powerful man in world football has sunk his claws into Championship Wolves.
It’s not what you know but who you know apparently. And, in a year where Manchester United are reaping the rewards of their new found friendship with Mino Raiola, never has that old adage seemed so pertinent.
And while Wolves can certainly point to the addition of Helder Costa and club-record signing Ivan Cavaleiro to their forward line as the benefits of getting rather cosy with super-agent Jorge Mendes, they should remember another old saying – keep your friends close but your enemies closer.
Mendes’ relationship with Wolves owners Fosun International has provided the club with unrivalled access to a whole new market over in Portugal but its risky business getting involved with one of the most influential men around.
After all, the current plight of La Liga giants Valencia, finishing fourth two seasons ago and now in real danger of relegation for the first time since 1986, tells its own story.
A ‘friendship’ with Los Che owner Peter Lim gave the Portuguese something of an unofficial pseudo-director role at the Mestalla, with a vast number of Mendes-represented players arriving via hugely over-inflated transfer fees from Iberia, all the while widening the chasm between the vociferous Valencian fanbase and the club’s legion of ‘mercenaries’.
Mendes is, after all, a businessman. He is not employed by any club to benefit one team alone. He may provide the odd player and grant access to new, foreign markets, but is must be remembered that he was the eye in the David De Gea storm last summer and the orchestrator of Cristiano Ronaldo’s 2009 world-record. He might have brought his finest clients to Old Trafford but he can take them away too.
Valencia are still yet to recover from the loss of influential defender Nicolas Otamendi to Manchester City in 2015. His agent? You guessed it. The man that brought him to the club, the man whose links were supposed to benefit the club, fought tooth and nail to rip away their on-pitch warrior.
Wolves shouldn’t get too comfortable. Businessmen are dangerous bedfellows.
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