Whatever you think of Jorge Mendes and his methods, you can’t help but laud the things he’s done for Wolves.
Since Fosun became involved with the Midlands outfit, they have established a friendly relationship with one of the most powerful football agents in the game.
The club’s manager, Nuno Santo is a client of Mendes’ Gestifute agency while several of their playing staff are also on his books. To name a few, he leads negotiations for the likes of Pedro Neto, Nelson Semedo, Ruben Neves and Fabio Silva.
Ties to Mendes have even led to incredible links regarding a certain Cristiano Ronaldo. His arrival at Molineux is far-fetched but one that shouldn’t have been a few years ago was Bruno Fernandes.
The Manchester United star is one of the super agent’s biggest clients and managed to pave the way for one of the most game-changing transfers the Premier League has seen in recent years.
He was signed for a considerable £47m from Sporting Lisbon but if Mendes had noticed his talent quicker, a move to Wolves could have occurred.
That’s the word of club legend Steve Bull anyway. Speaking exclusively to FFC’s sister site, Transfer Tavern, he said: “I think he went under the radar for [Jorge] Mendes otherwise, I think he would have definitely been on our scale and we definitely would have had him all day long.”
He would have been enthralling capture for Wolves, and Fosun must be cursing Mendes after missing out.
Fernandes is now valued at £81m by Transfermarkt and has become one of the most impressive attacking midfielders in world football.
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Speaking about him recently, Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel commented: “The impact he has since he arrived in Man United is indescribable. Unbelievable.”
The Portugal international has scored a mighty 23 goals this term, providing a further 14 assists in 46 outings. That adds to his tally of eight goals and seven assists in 14 Premier League matches last season after moving in January 2020.
Evidently, he could have been a real star in this Wolves team. That’s not just because of his antics in terms of creativity and goals, but because of his mentality and leadership.
“Bruno Fernandes is not really a tackler, but he leads by example because he works really hard and he’s brilliant on the ball,” Bryan Robson admitted this week.
“But I always see him talking and shouting to players and he is always either trying to encourage or having a bit of a go at players if they are not in the right position,” the Man United legend added.
Fernandes has very quickly become a star of European football and besides Ronaldo, he is Mendes’ diamond.