The arrival of Jorge Mendes is causing unrest in Dutch football, Algemeen Dagblad reports. The Portuguese top agent seems to be setting foot in the Eredivisie and could turn the relationships in the football pyramid upside down. Feyenoord and the other traditional top clubs are in danger of losing their influence.
Mendes mainly makes the news as a representative of absolute world players, but recently his name surfaced in relation to NEC. The Nijmegen club wants to sell Japanese midfielder Kodai Sano for as much money as possible and therefore approached the 60-year-old football agent. AZ did the same. They also approached Mendes, with the aim of selling the great talent Kees Smit for a record amount.
Traditional proportions
Clubs such as NEC and AZ usually sell their best players to the Dutch top or mid-level and sub-top players in European competitions. With Mendes they are trying to aim higher and break their own transfer ceiling. From now on, players like Smit and Sano must break transfer records.
Interest in Sano
We saw how the panels slide during the joust around Kodai Sano. The Japanese recently attracted serious interest from both Feyenoord and PSV, both of whom attributed him a market value of approximately 10 million euros.
With Mendes’ cooperation, NEC hopes for significantly more, just as AZ also thinks of tens of extra millions for Smit. In the usually overwrought and shady transfer market, this cannot even be ruled out. Crazy deals are often concluded there under pressure. Deals with amounts that Feyenoord cannot compete with. The changing game means that the star player of a club like NEC will soon no longer be feasible for the Rotterdam team.
‘Suppose, for example, Wolverhampton Wanderers is prepared to pay more than 20 million euros for Sano – and Atlético Madrid in turn pays for Smit. Two clubs where Mendes has had warm contacts for years, both clubs that make AZ and NEC filthy rich in one fell swoop,” AD outlines. ‘With the arrival of the Portuguese super agent, football players are increasingly in danger of becoming playthings in a multi-million dollar game and the Dutch top clubs are being sidelined.’
Different market
NEC director Wilco van Schaik states that his club cannot compete with the violence of the top clubs and is therefore looking at new and smart methods. “It was initially about what the agreements would be if we called him in,” said Van Schaik about the conversations with Mendes. “With him you enter a different market. Our stadium can accommodate 12,500 people, so you cannot grow quickly in that area. Then you have to do it through transfers, for example. So we’re just looking at that.”
In itself, this approach is not entirely new. Clubs often use specialized agents to attract or sell players. Usually because they have a larger network than the technical directors in question and sometimes because they have access to a specific segment of the market.
Game changer
Agent Guido Albers from the Players United office is lyrical about the possible arrival of Mendes on Dutch soil. “A collaboration with Jorge can only produce winners. This can be a game changer. Jorge will take the transfer amounts for Eredivisie players to another level. And clubs like NEC can invest that money again. In players, but also in their training.”
Reverse
This sounds obvious to many clubs, but football insiders also point out the downside. First of all, the figurative cake must be divided into more slices, with Mendes stabbing a fork. In the event of a sale, not only the clubs, agents and players earn, but also the Portuguese.
In addition, a deal often becomes much more complex as soon as there are more parties involved. And that’s not always what agents and clubs want. Because who pays who? This often leads to a series of side agreements that take place outside the view of the player in question. Consider details about future sell-through percentages, signing fees, portrait rights, bonus structures and an extra agent or family member who suddenly benefits. It is not always possible to find out who gets what share.
Reputation
Albers does not see this as a problem. “All parties benefit. If Jorge can make the proverbial pie much bigger, then in principle everyone gets a bigger piece. The club, but also the player’s agent and the footballer himself. You should not forget one thing: if a player is not interested in a specific club, then the deal will not happen. The player certainly decides for himself.”
The agent believes that Mendes is capable of causing a seismic shift in the Dutch transfer landscape. For this he points to England, where Mendes’ reputation has been visible for some time. There he helped in the transfer of Norwegian striker Jørgen Strand Larsen, who went from Wolverhampton Wanderers to Crystal Palace. “50 million pounds for a player who we in the Netherlands initially did not think was good enough for FC Groningen. I think that says enough.”
