Jorge Mendes is once again the winner of the summer transfer window
Once again, the winner of the transfer market is the Portuguese agent Jorge Mendes, who this summer was involved in deals which totalled 400 million euros.
The number, calculated by the media in Portugal, reflects Mendes's power within football, despite those that criticise his growing influence in the game.
Mendes played a part in three of the biggest transfers completed this summer: Anthony Martial (Monaco to Manchester United, 50 million plus 30 more in variables); Angel Di Maria (Man United to Paris Saint-Germain, 63 million) and Nicolas Otamendi (Valencia to Manchester City, 42 million).
And the number would have been even higher if Manchester United and Real Madrid's David de Gea-Keylor Navas deal hadn't fallen through at the final hour.
He was also involved in the Jackson Martinez (Porto to Atletico, 35 million), Arda Turan (Atletico to Barcelona, 34 million) and Abdennour (Monaco to Valencia, 25 million) deals, all of which involved Spanish clubs.
Those operations were added to by Cancelo (15 millon), Iván Cavaleiro (15 millon), Santi Mina (10 millon), Raul Jiménez (9 millon), Danilo Barbosa (7 millon), Bernard Mensah (6 millon) and Aderlan Santos (4.75 millon), among others.
Influence in many clubs
Even though Mendes is not the official representative, as deals are often done through his Gestifute agency, his relationship with Monaco and Valencia has allowed him to influence transfers.
He's already executed a similar role at Dinamo Moscow in 2004, when around 10 players from Portugal joined the Russian club, including Costinha, Derlei and Maniche.
In addition, the Portuguese agent even holds the rights to some players, as is the case with the Mexican Raul Jimenez and the Ghanaian Mensah.
Then there are the young Brazilian players he has taken to Monaco in recent seasons, such as the full-back Fabinho -- who previously played for Real Madrid -- and the central defender Wallace, two players Mendes hopes will be sold in the future for big money.
Both players joined the Ligue 1 club from teams in Portugal, Rio Ave and Braga.
Contacts in Europe
Mendes regularly does business in Portugal with Benfica and Porto; in Spain with Real Madrid, Atletico, Valencia and Deportivo La Coruña; in England with Chelsea and Manchester United; and with Monaco (France), Besiktas (Turkey) and Zenit (Russia).
And despite getting married this summer in Porto, the 49-year-old has not stopped working all summer. His wedding, for what it's worth, was attended by players (Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe, among others) and presidents (Florentino Perez and Roman Abramovich), which reflects his extensive contacts in the game.
