Wolves are reportedly going to move away from Jorge Mendes and Gestifute for player transfers moving forwards, with Julen Lopetegui keen for the club not to over-rely on the agent.
That is another interesting claim in the in-depth Express & Star report that was released last night.
Since Fosun acquired the club, Wolves have often worked with Mendes to get players into the club.
For the most part in the early years under Fosun, the deals that were done were really good.
In Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho, Wolves have had two of their greatest players in their history.
But in more recent times, the success rate hasn’t quite been as good.
The Goncalo Guedes transfer sticks out as a real misplay from Wolves. Big fees were also shelled out for Nelson Semedo and Fabio Silva.
According to the Express & Star, Wolves are now looking to move away from Mendes a bit, in a change of approach. The club don’t want to just completely stop working with him.
But they do apparently want to rely on him less.
Wolves want players to come in that are desperate to represent the club. ‘Young and hungry players’ are the priority.
Interestingly, it is stated that manager Julen Lopetegui is pushing against over-relying on Mendes. This is pretty much the opposite stance to Bruno Lage and Nuno Espirito Santo.
Chairman Jeff Shi is said to still have a relationship with Mendes.
Wolves would be right to move away from Jorge Mendes as transfer success rate has dipped
This is one of the most interesting parts of the article from the Express & Star.
Mendes has been a really influential figure for Wolves since the club’s promotion back to the Premier League.
There is no denying he has helped to bring some wonderful talents to Molineux.
But in recent times, some of the deals that Wolves have done involving him are questionable. The Silva transfer was particularly eyebrow-raising.
Wolves reportedly paid £35.6 million for him and it was clear very early on that this was overpaying massively. But perhaps Mendes was just too convincing.
It would definitely be right for Wolves to just take a step back a bit from Mendes moving forwards.
Just look at the deals that were done in January. Craig Dawson and Mario Lemina were brilliant additions and Mendes was not involved.