Jorge Mendes: The super-agent behind Jose Mourinho's Manchester United move

Jose Mourinho has been appointed Manchester United boss - after his agent Jorge Mendes held negotiations with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward.

Mendes' name is often linked to the biggest deals in football - but who is he, and how did he come to wield so much power?

We profile the 'super-agent' at the heart of the appointment of Manchester United's next manager…

Who is Jorge Mendes?

Mendes is a 50-year-old football agent, who has conducted some of the biggest transfers in European football.

He counts Cristiano Ronaldo, Diego Costa, James Rodriguez and David de Gea among his clients and is currently working on Jose Mourinho's appointment as Manchester United manager.

The Portuguese negotiator, who heads up his own sports agency GestiFute, has reportedly worked on transfers totalling more than £1bn during his 20-year career and carries significant influence in the world of football.

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How long has Mendes worked with Mourinho?

Mendes first worked with Mourinho in 2004, when the former Porto boss joined Chelsea. Mendes brokered the deal and benefitted from the success of the move.

With his profile enhanced, numerous Portuguese players took up his services and Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira, Tiago and Maniche all followed Mourinho to Chelsea through Mendes.

The pair have continued to work together, with Mendes securing lucrative deals for Mourinho at Inter Milan, Real Madrid and on his return to Chelsea. Now Manchester United awaits. "There is only one person who can win the best agent of the year award and it's Jorge Mendes," Mourinho said in 2010.

Recently, Mendes facilitated Costa's £32m transfer from Atletico Madrid to Chelsea, where his goals helped Mourinho's side to the Premier League title in 2014/15.

Has he worked with Manchester United before?

Mendes has done plenty of business with Manchester United in the past, including Angel Di Maria's British record transfer move from Real Madrid in 2014. Mendes is also responsible for the deal which brought a certain Cristiano Ronaldo to Old Trafford in 2003.

Mendes worked on Anderson and Nani's Manchester United deals, too, and, of the current crop, represents De Gea, who was on the brink of joining Real Madrid last summer.

Sir Alex Ferguson has spoken of his respect for Mendes: "Jorge Mendes is the best agent I dealt with, without a doubt. He was responsible, looked after his players… and was very fair with clubs." That, despite Mendes being involved in Bebe's transfer to United. Ferguson admitted he hadn't seen the Portuguese player in action before the deal was completed and Bebe only made two first-team appearances.

Which other major deals has he been involved in?

As well as big-money moves involving Ronaldo, Di Maria, Rodriguez and Costa, Mendes has recently facilitated Manchester City's £32m purchase of Eliaquim Mangala and Alex Teixeira's £38.4m switch to Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Suning from Shakhtar Donetsk.

Mendes also represents Renato Sanches, who joined Bayern Munich for an initial sum of £27.5m this summer following an impressive season with Benfica - and Sky sources have revealed the midfielder would have joined Manchester United if they had come to an agreement with Benfica in time.

Mendes also has a number of players at Valencia and claims that 68 per cent of all transfers at Sporting Lisbon, Benfica and Porto between 2001 and 2010 were conducted by him.

Will he be busy this summer?

Almost certainly. Portugal midfielder and Mendes client Joao Moutinho could be one big name on the move this summer, following speculation in January Manchester United would be interested in taking him from Monaco, while Radamel Falcao could be on the lookout for a switch following failed spells with United and Chelsea.

Meanwhile, Sky Sports' Spanish football expert Guillem Balague says Real Madrid would be happy to sell another Mendes player, James, who they signed in 2014 for £63m.

How did he become an agent?

He may be working on multi-million pound deals now, but Mendes' career as an agent had humble beginnings. He was a nightclub owner in Portugal 20 years ago when he met goalkeeper Nuno and helped him join Deportivo La Coruna.

Multi-lingual Mendes built his client base around young, talented Portuguese footballers and as his players impressed, his reputation grew.

Now he is at the heart of one of the most eagerly-anticipated managerial appointments of recent times.