The Heat Is Turning Up On Jorge Mendes And Premier League Chasing Wolves As They Welcome Aston Villa

The Heat Is Turning Up On Jorge Mendes And Premier League Chasing Wolves As They Welcome Aston Villa
12:10, 10 Mar 2018

If Wolves take another step towards promotion this weekend with victory over Aston Villa, they will do so under an almighty cloud.

Nuno Espirito Santo’s side are already six points clear at the top of the Championship, thanks in no small part to their plethora of new arrivals this season. 

Among them are arguably the division’s best midfielder, Portugal international Ruben Neves, and Diogo Jota, who is on loan from Atletico Madrid.

Of the three teams that come up this season, Premier League fans will be most excited about Wolves’ resurgence.  They have reigned at the top of the second tier because of a slick, explosive brand of football…and quite a few other factors, too.

Not everyone is enamoured with their inexorable march towards the top flight. This week, a number of Championship clubs spoke to the Football League and to the FA to express their concerns about the legitimacy of the operation unfolding in the Black Country.

At the heart of the debate is Jorge Mendes. The super-agent typically flirts with football’s crème de la crème, representing Cristiano Ronaldo, James Rodriguez, and Diego Costa. And Nuno himself. What is he doing at Wolves? Nothing more than an advisory role, they insist.

Not everything he has touched at Wolves has turned to gold. His alliance with Jose Mourinho helped them to sign Manchester United youngster Cameron Borthwick-Jackson, but the Red Devils became unhappy at his lack of game time. 

The accusation now is that for the calibre of players being brought to Molineux, £15million Neves as an example, the money spent does not add up. There is then added confusion surrounding wages. 

A club having a special relationship with an agent isn’t particularly unusual. Wolves aren’t the only club he has links to, though the owners reportedly have a stake in his company.

It’s with Mendes’ assistance that they have spent notable sums in the transfer market – though not without taking a considerable hit to their finances.

According to the club’s own accounts, they made a loss of more than £20million in the first season under Chinese consortium Fosun International. Financial Fair Play regulations stipulate that any more than a £39million loss over a three-year period, and there will be a problem – even a possible points deduction, though it remains to be seen whether that would be enforced.

It’s precisely that question of whether anything will be done about it that may have informed Neil Warnock as he batted away questions about fairness. The Cardiff City manager, whose second-placed team are the only side really knocking on the league-leaders’ door, told a press conference before his side’s game with Birmingham:

 “Wolves have had it hard for so long…All this talk of advantages – let them sign who they want. It doesn’t bother me if they sign Neymar. I think it’s great, I wish we all had contacts like they have. Let’s not start bitching about them. Good luck to them because they’ve been in the doldrums for so long.”

Unfortunately, there are many others who take a dim view of the league table being decided by karma. On Wednesday, Leeds became the latest victims of Wolves’ brilliance, the game ending 3-0 to the visitors at Elland Road. Leeds owner Andrea Radrizzani has since posted a series of tweets and on Thursday, he posted the following explanation:

“The aim is to open a transparent debate regarding the rules and motivate the institutions to be vigilant about anything that can spoil the fairness of the competition, which I am encouraged to see the EFL take seriously as per their statement earlier today. I believe it is vital for clubs in the Championship and beyond to operate on a level playing field.”

FA rules exist about outside influence on club policies and the better Wolves do, the more scrutiny they are finding themselves under. A win against Villa will see them put one foot in the Premier League, but promotion will not come with the usual well-wishes. 

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