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11 minutes ago, sne said:

Well I imagine him and his agent thought it would be good exposure playing in a top Championship side in England to get attention from the PL sides.

Although Porto are a vastly superior side to Wolves he has now proved to any potential buyer that he can hack it "a cold night in Stoke" and would present less of a gamble.

Also considering that any player in England who can move the ball forward at walking pace without tripping on their feet is instantly valued at £20m or more Neves is probably at £40-60 now at least.

Good business for him, his agent and Wolves.

Very smart win win for wolves they get  a fat fee after they get promoted. The only problem is they look shit without Neves or when isnt playing well. They will find it so difficult to replace him 

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I imagine Wolves will make some sort of deal (loan probably) for Renato Sanches in the summer.

Another young Portuguese Gestifute/Mendes player with bags of potential even thou he's had a horrid time the last year or so.

Still only 20 and Bayern might wan't to cut their losses or loan him out another season.

Not sure what the status on his injuries are.

Would not be surprised if he turns up at Wolves next season.

Neves to Manure, Sanches to Wolves?

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1 hour ago, Stevo985 said:

I think Neves' goal is better but Grealish's was more difficult.

If that makes any sense? It does in my head :)

 

This is exactly what I think too. I’d be much more confident in hitting the target if I could set the ball rather than moving backwards whilst trying to catch a volley...

...however, I’d rather score Neves’ goal and it’s prettier to watch. 

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Neves goal was a great goal no doubt about it, great techinque and from a fair way out makes it pretty spectacular. I would say that Grealish's goal was probably harder to execute as it was coming down from a height and probably dopping faster as well, he could easily have snatched at that and shinned it wide or into the crowd of players. The timing in the match and fact it was a winning goal edges Grealish in front, but I am slightly biased on the point.

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Neves goal was better than Jack's in my opinion. The technique was something else. However, if we are to compare goals, then I'd say Lowton's goal at Stoke was almost identical to Neves'. 

As he is a defender, I'd say that makes his goal even better. 

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12 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

I think Neves' goal is better but Grealish's was more difficult.

If that makes any sense? It does in my head :)

 

It does in mine too......Grealish had much less time to compose himself.

but hey!...... I would need a feeler gauge to separate them.

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Article on Wolves and Mendes in a Swedish paper today.

It's google translated and strangely enough doesn't mention the Grealish goal...

Quote

Then Wolverhampton became a winning club

 

Help from Chinese investors and the world's most powerful football agent.

Wolverhampton is coming up from the Championship, back into the football finals.

This was what happened when the club that everyone ended up believing suddenly became a factor in English football.

Ruben Neves tripped a few steps before he stepped forward and hit the ball. It flew off at high speed, with the aim of Neil Etheridge's right cross. That the goalkeeper was already there did not matter, the shot was too hard for it to be boxed aside. The lead goal was a fact and when the closing signal was twenty minutes later, Wolverhampton was suddenly nine points ahead of the 2nd Cardiff in the Championship table.

Now the Premier League was just around the knot, and it was long since Wolves had such short distances to the country's highest series.

 

Nobody can blame Wolverhampton for lack of tradition, but in recent years the club has been under the ice. During the 1950s, champion became three times, but since 1992 there have only been two victories in the Premier League. As late as 2012, there was a new degradation to the Championship and there was a long-time club without any chance of getting into the gym again - until the summer of 2016.

"We were a middle team, simply not good enough," said Conor Coady, the team captain who has been in since the beginning of the revolution.

The plan that was designed almost two years ago was quite simple. When Peter Kenyon, with a past as chairman of both Chelsea and Manchester United, delivered a bid to Wolverhampton via Chinese Fosun, he was clear that this was the best for all parties involved.

 

Fosun received a Premier League-compatible club, including a major supporter base, a well-known brand, stable revenue and the most important: tradition. In return, the then owner Steve Morgan would receive about 600 million kronor, a drop in the sea for the Chinese conglomerate. Money to buy in players was available, as well as the ability to attract the right practitioners to the club.

To succeed in the latter one of the world's most familiar names came in: agent Jorge Mendes .

 

Ruben Neves, who decided against Cardiff, was once the big star of Porto's youth academy and became 18, the youngest player ever to be the champion of the Champions League. Landsman Diego Jota also has a past in Porto, as well as Frenchman Willy Boly, who arrived last summer. In total there are seven Portugues in Wolverhampton and also the coach Nuno Espirito Santo is from Portugal.

A random one? Really not.

Fosun pays the wages that attracted the players 180 kilometers northwest of London, although Jota believes that the club choice was based more than that:

"I wanted to play here, it's everyone's dream to play in England, to play in the Premier League," said Jota ahead of the season.

Money and dreams in all honor, but it is Jorge Mendes who has made possible the transitions. In fact, Espirito Santo was the agent's first client ever, long before names like Cristiano Ronaldo, José Mourinho and Angel Di Maria.

"He is the most powerful in the world"

Wolves has never diminished Mendes involvement, even though he opposes the claim that the Portuguese controls the club's transfer policy. Prior to the season, some players like Mendes Agency Gestifute did not arrive in their stable, but it is inevitable to shut up because he has several fingers in the game.

However, in December 2016, the league came to the conclusion that Jorge Mendes did for Wolverhampton not violate the rules, even though agents are not allowed to influence clubs. The fact that a subsidiary of Fosun is a partner in Gestifute was not considered to be an obstacle to continued cooperation. Wolverhampton is thus part of the "Mendes System", a network that includes clubs of various sizes across Europe. These people use Mendes as a form of adviser, especially when it comes to player transitions.

According to Pippo Russo, an Italian sociology professor who has written a full book about the agent, Jorge Mendes is: "the most powerful person in football. A man who not only works on the market, but creates it ". Portugal is hardly alone in having a lot of power in various football clubs, but he is definitely the largest in the agent industry. Only American Scott Boras, who represents baseball players, earns more than Jorge Mendes does on his hundreds of clients.

One might assume that Jorge Mendes during his years as an agent has created some enemies, but the more powerful friends. Alex Ferguson, for example, has not forgotten that it was Mendes who took the gold climber Cristiano Ronaldo to Old Trafford.

"It's no doubt the best agent I've worked with," says Sir Alex. 

Miguel Angel Gil, President of Atletico Madrid, accompanies and describes the agent's working methods as: "a set chessboard where the plays are moved to different clubs". 

"He's loyal to everyone and does not try any ugly moves," said Gil.

Controls Portugal's big clubs

Instead of jumping on the fastest stores, Jorge Mendes encourages their adepts to wait for the right position. The first question the agent asks is: "Where do you want to play somewhere?" And then a clear plan is laid up around how to achieve the goal.

The network is not surprising from Portugal. According to Quality Sports Investment, Jorge Mendes controlled over 68 percent of all transfer activity in the country's three biggest clubs, Benfica, Sporting Lisbon and Porto between 2001 and 2010. Behind these big clubs there are also a number of smaller clubs where Mendes places South American players who have arrived in Europe. That way, his young clients get playing time, while helping him to bypass FIFA rules on third-party ownership. When the Portuguese Tax Office examined the agent's transfer activity three years ago, a list of 13 different clubs was added.

"Working with Mendes provides clubs as our greater opportunity to get good players," said Antonio Silva Campos, president of Rio Ave, sometimes known as "FC Mendes".

- There is no club in Portugal who does not want to work with him.

Ederson and André Gomes two Mendes examples

A good example is Ederson who arrived at Manchester City ahead of the season. The Brazilian goalkeeper spent some time in Rio Ave before joining Benfica to end up in the Premier League. Silva Campos confirms that Gestifute owned 20 percent of the player.

According to Pippo Russo, there are also a number of clubs used as a kind of passage, such as Besiktas, Dynamo Moscow, Valencia, Deportivo La Coruna, Atletico Madrid and formerly Monaco.

"Sometimes players do not play for them, they go straight on loans," explains Russo.

Jota, one of the key players in Wolverhampton, has been contracted by Atletico and was lent to Porto last season.

"The clubs are earning it because the players take them closer to the elite and they can be sold for more money," Russo says. Another example, portugal André Gomes, was acquired by Valencia from Benfica and then sold to Barcelona.

However, it is not only the aforementioned clubs that are part of Jorge Mendes network, the best players are of course sold to the biggest. When client José Mourinho was a Real Madrid coach, Mendes continuously used the countryman's office at the club's training facility, including meetings with potential investors. Clubs like Wolverhampton.

Extension within reach

Wolves ended in a 15th place in the Championship table last year, but after having received Nuno Espirito Santo as manager and the 12 new players, the club suddenly sailed up as a big favorite.

But certainly there has been doubt among the public, largely based on other clubs' less pleasant experiences by Jorge Mendes.

When Ferd Orman took over as chairman of Besiktas in 2011, the economy was so bad that the players were encouraged to lower their wages to cover the club's debts. Before Orman arrived, six Mendes players had been captured in less than a year. The coach Nuno left Valencia under chaotic circumstances in 2015 and Mendes's increasing influence and close relationship with the owner Peter Lim concern the Spanish club's supporters.

Despite this, most of the time has gone as planned for Wolves this season. Diego Jota has 14 goals yet so far and the Leo Bonatini brass, loaned from Al-Hilal, has so far 12 hits on the account. Continuing the fine goalkeeper in the home match against Derby on Wednesday night, the club can take a huge step towards that long-awaited venue in England's highest league.

It for a long time felt like a difficult dream, but now it's very real and probably will be secured in the near future.

In other words, Jorge Mendes, who so long sued after having a Premier League club in his network, has succeeded in fulfilling his mission.

https://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/fotboll/a/oRl1Kg/sa-blev-wolverhampton-en-vinnarklubb

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