(This article was originally written by Simon Winter in September 2015)
When I try to picture a football agent, my brain conjures up images of a caricature cartoon villain, complete with gold tooth and slicked back hair, laughing hysterically as he holds huge wads of cash in each hand. Sort of a cross between the first famous agent, Eric “monster monster” Hall and a Wall Street banker.
In reality, my imaginary conjuration isn’t that far from the real deal. Like it or not, agents have a huge role to play in modern football, an ever present part of 99.99% of transfers, brokering deals between clubs for a percentage of the ever growing extortionate fees.
They have in-directly contributed to rising ticket prices, soaring prices for Sky TV packages and directly put many top clubs across Europe under severe financial strain from their client’s demands.
Some call them a “cancer on the game” and while the pros and cons of their necessity and involvement in football can be argued all day, I think it is safe to presume that they won’t be going anywhere soon.
Jorge Mendes is one of the most powerful men in football. The 44-year-old “super-agent” from Portugal counts the likes of Jose Mourinho, Luiz Felipe Scolari and Carlos Queiroz among his managerial clients.
His list of playing clientele reads even more impressively and includes, Simao Sabrosa, Anderson, Fabio Coentrao, Pepe, Angle Di Maria, Cristiano Ronaldo, Ricardo Carvalho, Nani, Ricardo Quaresma, Burak Yilmaz, Joao Moutinho, James Rodriguez and Victor Valdes.
Just take a moment to consider the hundreds of millions that have changed hands when those players and managers have changed clubs over the past few years. Mendes cumulative commission figures must be staggering.
In total Mendes company GestiFute, represents over 50 players, most of whom share his Portuguese nationality.
Mendes founded GestiFute in 1996, following a failed attempt at becoming a professional footballer himself in his homeland. He was rejected by a number of clubs in his early twenties and instead found himself managing a local video rental store and working as DJ.
Mendes eventually opened his own bar and nightclub in Caminha in North West Portugal. It was in a different bar in Guimaraes where Mendes fortunes would change and his journey to the middle-manning zenith would begin.
Mendes met goalkeeper Nuno who was playing for local side Vitoria and convinced him to allow the novice representative to broker his move to Deportivo La Coruna in Spain. Once Mendes foot was in the door, he gradually began to attract other Portuguese players who were keen to maximise their earning potential with lucrative moves to Europe’s bigger leagues.
Through GestiFute, Mendes became a constant presence at soccer schools and youth teams across Portugal, constantly networking and scouting, while at the same time snapping up the best talent the country had to offer.
His first major international transfer came in 2002 when he represented the highly rated Hugo Viana’s move to Newcastle from Sporting Lisbon for €12m.
Mendes rising influence and continued desperation and determination to represent the best Portuguese players saw him come to blows with Luis Figo’s agent, Jose Veiga when they ran into each other at Portela Airport around the same time.
Portugal was the ideal country for a football agent to operate. Unlike the majority of other football associations, Portugal allowed other parties other than clubs themselves to own part of the economic rights of the players, in order to receive part of the transfer fees.
That meant GestiFute incoming was growing exponentially. FIFA introduced legislation to restrict third party ownership in 2008, but by this time GestiFute had already established itself as one of the leading Sports Agencies.
An example of the monopoly on Portuguese talent developed by Jorge Mendes, is the influx of his compatriots at Chelsea in 2004.
Despite Jose Mourinho already having an agent, one he had known since his time at Uniao de Leira and who had also lined his client up for a move to Liverpool if reports are to be believed (so close eh Pool fans?), Mendes swooped in with the promise of greater rewards if he was allowed to negotiate Mourinho’s move from Porto to Chelsea instead.
Mourinho agreed and by the end of the Summer, Mendes had set up moves for the “Special One” as well as Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Tiago and Maniche to Stamford Bridge. During those deals Mendes had been paid to represent BOTH Chelsea and the players themselves.
Mendes also oversaw Mourinho’s moves to both Internazionale in 2008 and Real Madrid in 2010, earning millions for his part in the deals.
Mendes also became the agent of choice for Manchester United during Carlos Queiroz time there as assistant manager and was on hand to negotiate the transfers of Cristiano Ronaldo, Anderson and Nani from Sporting Lisbon and Porto respectively, for fees exceeding €55m. In fact such was Man Utd’s eagerness to have Mendes “on-board” that Nani’s transfer only went through once the player had dropped his agent Ana Almeida in favour of the all devouring GestiFute.
The 2010 transfer of Bebe to United from Vitoria de Guimaraes was the most controversial of all, with Mendes receiving €3.6m of the €9m transfer fee paid – a transfer that came just weeks after Bebe had ditched his former agent Goncalo Reis.
Reis lodged an official complaint to FIFA about the deal, which in hindsight still seems extremely shady. Observers have speculated that United agreed to pay such a high price for Bebe and to Mendes in exchange for favours down the line when the next batch of GestiFute Portuguese superstars are ready to move.
Gestifute’s and Jorge Mendes influence continues to grow as does the role of football agents in general. What you have to understand is that agents like Mendes’ greatest rewards come when their clients change clubs.
They WANT their clients to move. How can they have their client’s best interests at heart when their whole livelihoods are built on whoring their players out to the highest bidders?
Such is Mendes’ reputation for squeezing the most financially out of clubs for player’s wages and transfer fees, the most super of all the “super agents” continues to attract the best young Portuguese talent around.
Such is his influence, Mendes can even block a rival agencies attempts to transfer their clients to the European big boys. It’s Mendes or no deal for many of them.
It all reads like a diabolical revenge plot, devised by a broken-hearted youngster, weeping over his boots following another rejection after realizing that his dreams of becoming a professional footballer will never come true.
He has now achieved a position of notoriety in the game through different means. He may not have his name in lights, but it is certainly is written in contract paper ink.
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