Cristiano Ronaldo may have bought agent Jorge Mendes a private island for his birthday but he’s not quite as popular elsewhere.

One of football’s first super-agents, Jon Smith, has suggested to Talksport that Wolves now have limited control over their recruitment policy due to the involvement of Jorge Mendes.

Mendes is one of the most powerful individuals in the modern game due to his connections with huge European clubs such as Valencia, Benfica and Real Madrid, while he boasts a client list including David De Gea, James Rodriguez and Cristiano Ronaldo (below).

The 50-year-old, however, has courted controversy over the years due to his outside influence in certain clubs, with Valencia notably bringing in a raft of Mendes-represented players from Portuguese league due to the agent’s close friendship with owner Peter Lim.

Mendes now appears to be mirroring his effect at Wolves following their takeover by the Fosun International Group in July, with new owner Jeff Shi admitting that the club would seek to bring in a number of players from Portugal, according to the Express and Star.

And Smith, who represented the likes of Diego Maradona (below) and the England national team, has suggested that the high-profile agent may now be pulling all the strings behind the scenes at the Midlands club.

“[Mendes] has circled a few clubs and made them his mainstay,” Smith told Talksport. Places like CSKA Moscow and various other clubs, where he has a huge influence now. Where the management sort of rely on him.

“And even in England, at Wolves, the Chinese consortium are completely mesmerised by Jorge. He’s in a position where he can say to the club: ‘I want this player in, I want to move things around’.

“Jorge has taken it to a whole new level.”

Despite a raft of arrivals in the close-season, including club-record signing Ivan Cavaleiro (below), Walter Zenga’s Wolves have won just two of their seven Championship games.

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