Liam Keen
Published14th Apr 2026, 17:58 BST
Updated14th Apr 2026, 17:58 BST
Since Fosun bought Wolves in 2016, the club has been known for their loyalty to Portuguese talent and reliance on super-agent Jorge Mendes.
As with any relationship, it has gone through spells of successes and failures, while Wolves have also been through a period of bringing players from other stables to the club.
But Mendes and his Gestifute agency have remained close to Wolves and it is a relationship that has lasted the test of time.
Helder Costa was one of the first big stars to come through the doors at Molineux, and the likes of Ruben Neves and Diogo Jota are just two of a number of players that followed and helped propel Wolves back to the Premier League.
Under Getsifute client Nuno Espirito Santo, and a huge number of their players, Wolves finished seventh in two consecutive Premier League seasons, reached the quarter-finals of the Europa League and the semi-finals of the FA Cup.
Wolves were thriving and Mendes - although not the only one with some credit - played a big part in that success.
Some high-profile and expensive flops followed, including the likes of Matheus Nunes, Goncalo Guedes and Fabio Silva - the latter of whom is not a Gestifute client but Mendes still played a pivotal role in bringing him to Wolves for £35million.
Wolves' record buy Fabio Silva with chairman Jeff Shi (Photo: Wolves)placeholder image
Wolves' record buy Fabio Silva with chairman Jeff Shi (Photo: Wolves) | Local Library
Wolves moved away from an over-reliance on Mendes players in the years that followed and of the senior squad he currently only represents Jose Sa and Matt Doherty, as well as Fer Lopez who is out on loan at Celta Vigo.
But the influential agent is still heavily involved at Wolves.
He has negotiated on behalf of Wolves to help bring players to the club that he does not represent and the Express & Star understands he played an important role in bringing Emmanuel Agbadou and Marshall Munetsi from Reims to Molineux in the 2025 winter window.
He was also instrumental behind the scenes in signing Ladislav Krejci and although he has been the most successful of Wolves’ six summer additions, it is understood the player was available earlier in the window for around half of the eventual £26million Wolves will pay for him.
Gestifute have also acted as intermediaries on behalf of Wolves for outgoings.
The recent FA document outlining agent transactions between February 4, 2025 to February 2, 2026 tells it’s own story.
Throughout the 55-page document that lists transfers in and out, as well as new contracts, for the top four English divisions, National League and Women’s Super League, Mendes himself is mentioned just twice. That is for Chelsea’s sale of Joao Felix and the sale of Manchester City’s Ederson.
Valdir Cardoso, Mendes’ right-hand man and someone who often works with Wolves, is named three times. That is in a new contract for City’s Ruben Dias, for Nuno’s move to become West Ham head coach and for Wolves’ signing of Lopez in the summer.
In the Lopez deal, Cardoso is listed as representing the player and the registering club - Wolves.
Mattheus Cunha (Photo by Jack Thomas - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images).placeholder image
Mattheus Cunha (Photo by Jack Thomas - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images). | Local Library
Curiously, there is a name that features 12 times in the document - Andrew Quinn.
According to reports in Ireland, Quinn is a financial expert that has worked with Gestifute for many years and has been linked to controversial tax management schemes involving stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo.
Quinn, however, is listed as a registered football agent with the FA and his inclusion on the transactions document appears above board.
Among the 12 times he is named, he appears alongside Nuno for his new contract at Nottingham Forest, alongside five players unrelated to Wolves.
The other six are all Wolves matters - the sales Matheus Cunha, Jorgen Strand Larsen, Rayan Ait-Nouri, Guedes, Silva and a new contract for Vitor Pereira.
On all of these occasions, Quinn is listed as representing Wolves in the deal. That is, despite Gestifute not representing Cunha, Larsen or Ait-Nouri and their sales to other English clubs are listed in the same document under their actual agent, representing the player and buying club.
In other words, the agent of the player as well as Gestifute are all getting a slice of the pie in the sale of these Wolves players and it is understood that Gestifute claim around 10 per cent of the deals.
Jorge Mendes (right) with Valdir Cardoso, Diogo Jota's wife Rute Cardoso and Ruben Neves at Molineux in August 2025 after the death of Jota.placeholder image
Jorge Mendes (right) with Valdir Cardoso, Diogo Jota's wife Rute Cardoso and Ruben Neves at Molineux in August 2025 after the death of Jota. | PA
It does beg the question why Wolves cannot handle these transfers themselves?
Larsen’s move to Crystal Palace earlier this year, rising to £48million, could have been a simple conversation between former Wolves sporting director Matt Hobbs, now at Palace, and his former colleague Matt Jackson who has taken over as technical director at the Molineux club.
Some will argue that a technical director’s role is much more than just transfers - and other clubs also use the model of high-profile agents working on their behalf - but it does seem to somewhat undermine the position of Jackson in the eyes of some fans.
In addition, Cunha’s departure to Manchester United came from a £62.5million release clause in his new contract. It is known that United tried to negotiate down from that figure, but the release clause was eventually triggered, so why - some fans may ask - should Gestifute earn a percentage as an intermediary for that deal?
Wolves will argue that Mendes is better placed to have conversations with potential buyers due to his huge scope across global football and that they could not have achieved such high figures for certain players without his help.
That does have some merit, considering Wolves made almost £7million in profit on Jhon Arias after a dreadful half a season at the club, while they also negotiated a £17.5million deal to sell Agbadou, after buying club Besiktas initially arrived with a much smaller offer.
Undoubtedly, Wolves have got plenty of value out of Mendes and the links to Fosun are strong, with the Chinese conglomerate reportedly owning a 20 per cent stake in Mendes’ holding company.
But in a year in which Wolves doubled their agent fees to almost £26million - £12.5million of which were deferred from previous seasons and money that Wolves owed to Gestifute - questions still have to be asked of Wolves’ direction.
The genie is out of the bottle when it comes to spiralling agent fees in football and Mendes is simply taking advantage of a number of situations that make him incredibly wealthy - who can blame him?
Wolves have had a lot of success working with him in the past, alongside some more concerning transfer windows, and as they await relegation to the Championship the club they must find a balance as to not over rely on any individual.
It is a monumental summer that the club must get right and Mendes will probably play his part, but the right decisions for Wolves must come first.
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