‘Uncle’ Jorge Mendes is back in at Wolves again – this is what it means for their relegation fight, January signings and the club’s power structure

Jorge Mendes might have been tempted to borrow a line from Wayne Rooney as he reclaimed a central billing at Wolverhampton Wanderers this week.

Just as Rooney announced his arrival at England‘s training base at the 2006 World Cup by remarking that ‘the big man’s back in town’, so Mendes has been at the heart of matters as Wolves try to escape their greatest crisis since promotion to the Premier League in 2018.

In his hour of greatest need, Wolves chairman Jeff Shi enlisted the help of Mendes, who represents a host of A-listers including Cristiano Ronaldo and is probably still world football’s most influential agent. 

Prospective new manager Vitor Pereira is a Mendes client and his likely appointment might not have been so smooth without his representative’s excellent relations with Wolves.

Mendes never really went away. His company, Gestifute, have been involved in at least 30 deals including manager hires since Nuno Espirito Santo arrived as head coach at the start of the 2017-18 season.

Gestifute still have their hospitality box on the first floor at Molineux. They represent six players in the first-team squad. Mendes has always been one of Shi’s key advisors.

Wolves are on the lookout for a new manager with Vitor Pereira a client of super-agent Mendes

Yet by hiring Gary O’Neil in August 2023 and giving sporting director Matt Hobbs sweeping powers over recruitment, Wolves were attempting to loosen their ties to the Portuguese behemoth ever so slightly.

After Julen Lopetegui departed on the eve of the 2023-24 campaign, Wolves sought a British coach who would work with existing staff, rather than surround himself entirely with his own – as Nuno, Bruno Lage and Lopetegui himself had done.

Hobbs drove the appointment of O’Neil and played the key role in player trading thereafter, becoming one of the most visible sporting directors in the Premier League. Yet the probable appointment of Pereira creates an intriguing dynamic.

Mail Sport understands Hobbs travelled with Shi to meet Pereira. He remains Shi’s most trusted executive and has prepared a list of targets for January.

Yet the real test of coaches and officials is how they react when it hits the fan. Any coach can go on Sky’s Monday Night Football and deliver a detailed explanation of how Wolves played through the Bournemouth press, as O’Neil did in October 2023.

Most sporting directors can speak convincingly about their plan to find the next Lionel Messi before anyone else does, sell him for a world-record fee and ensure the club is healthy on and off the pitch.

But when the team are in the relegation zone because they cannot defend for toffee and the players lose their heads, can the coach correct it? When it becomes obvious a new man is needed in the dugout, can the executives deliver a suitable candidate?

Shi looked at O’Neil and decided the answer was ‘no’. He may also have reflected that he and Hobbs might need a helping hand. Time to turn again to Uncle Jorge.

Gary O’Neil was sacked as Wolves manager on Sunday following another Premier League loss

Many Wolves supporters have conflicting opinions about Mendes. They dislike the idea of a single agent having such influence over which players come and go. 

Yet they know too that without Mendes, there would have been no Nuno. No Ruben Neves, Diogo Jota, Joao Moutinho, Pedro Neto nor Raul Jimenez. No consecutive seventh-placed finishes, FA Cup semi-final or Europa League quarter-final.

Sadly for Wolves fans, there will be no players of their calibre arriving in January. There is a limited number of Champions League-quality footballers who are prepared to join Wolves, and Gestifute’s supply was largely exhausted in the first two years of the Nuno era.

Like most top-flight clubs, Wolves are under pressure to meet spending rules and must be careful with their trading, so it will be fascinating to see what happens next. Mendes certainly has the connections to make things easier.

Gestifute have strong links with dozens of clubs and can help move players between them. We will be able to tell soon enough who is running recruitment in January.

David Carmo (left) and Antonio Silva are two players who could join Wolves via Mendes’ links

If it is Gestifute, the centre back Wolves need so desperately is more likely to come from one of Portugal’s three giants – Porto, Benfica and Sporting Lisbon – or Olympiacos than from a Premier League rival. Think David Carmo or Antonio Silva, not Adam Webster or Chris Mepham.

With Gestifute’s help, Wolves will also find it easier to move on fringe players and make space in the squad to sign new ones.

But the Pereira hire must deliver. Shi’s popularity has never been lower among Wolves fans, with a fan group accusing him of ‘poor leadership’ and demanding owners Fosun conduct a review into the performance of senior officials. If Pereira keeps Wolves up, a line can be drawn. If he takes them down, it is hard to see how Shi would recover his standing among supporters.

In the end, O’Neil was buffeted by one wave too many and was swept away. Shi wants to avoid the same fate. No wonder he has turned again to the man who many believe controls football’s tides.