Jorge Mendes has 'less influence' at Wolves as Jonny update emerges

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·11 December 2023

Jorge Mendes has 'less influence' at Wolves as Jonny update emerges

Wolverhampton Wanderers have allowed super-agent Jorge Mendes less influence at the club, as Sunday People chief sports writer Neil Moxley considers the future of Jonny Castro Otto at Molineux.

Wolves head coach Gary O’Neil won’t consider the full-back for selection until the end of January at the earliest after a recent ‘training ground incident’ put his future at the club into question.

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Wanderers have enjoyed a solid start to the campaign and look set to dispel any relegation concerns from the summer of 2023, sitting in the relative comfort of mid-table. Wolves will consider bolstering their squad without breaching the Premier League’s profit and sustainability rules during the 2024 winter transfer window.

Wolves’ Mendes influence

One of the Premier League’s worst-kept secrets over the last half-decade has been Mendes' involvement in Wolverhampton Wanderers’ transfer business since Fosun’s takeover of the club in the summer of 2016. Gestifute, the agency in which Mendes represents, have been a well-known ally of the Wolves owners, with the Portuguese super agent dictating many transfers in Fosun’s early years at Molineux.

Mendes’ influence became apparent during the 2017 summer transfer window, when the signings of Ruben Neves and Diogo Jota, alongside the appointment of head coach Nuno Espirito Santo, propelled Wanderers from mid-table also-rans to Championship winners. Upon their promotion to the Premier League, Wolves attracted the signings of Portugal internationals Joao Moutinho and Rui Patricio as they headed for a seventh-placed finish and qualification for the Europa League.

However, following the Black Country outfit’s brush with financial fair play in the 2023 summer transfer window and the sackings of Nuno, Bruno Lage and Julen Lopetegui, the club looks to be heading in a different direction. Wolves’ appointment of O’Neil in August 2023 represented the club’s first British appointment since the hire of Paul Lambert in November 2016.

Sporting director Matt Hobbs has had to be smart with his signings, having sold the likes of Matheus Nunes, Neves and Nathan Collins in the summer to fund cut-price deals for the likes of Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Tommy Doyle and Santiago Bueno. The business in the summer represents a step in a different direction from Mendes-led transfers, with Hobbs putting an emphasis on more innovative recruitment across England and Europe.

Neil Moxley on Mendes and Jonny

Moxley is “led to believe” that Mendes has less influence at Molineux but will still be “moving players here, there and everywhere.” The journalist also hints that out-of-favour defender Jonny could have a club lined up for him in Spain or Portugal. The journalist told GIVEMESPORT:

“Jonny was a solid performer rather than spectacular. He was a six or seven out of ten. He did a reasonably good job for Wolves then, but they've got young pretenders now. They're gaining experience with every passing match. Will he have some suitors? Yes. Will they be from the Premier League? Probably not. I can. I’m led to believe that Mendes has a little less influence at Molineux, but he will still be moving players here, there and everywhere. He will probably have a club for him in Spain or Portugal.”

Wolves transfer news on the future of Jonny

Following a ‘training ground incident’, Hobbs has revealed that Jonny will remain away from first-team training until at least the end of January 2024. The defender apologised for the occurrence and is expected to be allowed to play for the U21s to keep up his match sharpness ahead of a potential departure during the 2024 winter transfer market.

Moxley has also told GIVEMESPORT (9th December) that the sale of Jonny could enable Wolves to sign another left-back in January. However, they already have solid options on the left-hand side in Rayan Ait-Nouri and Hugo Bueno. According to sources in Spain, Wanderers are interested in Sevilla and Argentina left-back Marcos Acuna. The World Cup winner is estimated to be worth €12m (£10.3m) and could offer O’Neil’s side some experience on the left-hand side, with Ait-Nouri and Bueno both in their early 20s.

Meanwhile, The Mirror claims Wolves are preparing a cut-price £7m move for Burnley midfielder Josh Brownhill in January. The Clarets star is valued at around £20m by the Lancashire outfit but could be available on the cheap on the basis he’s about to enter the final six months of his contract at Turf Moor. O’Neil has reportedly put the midfielder at the top of his wishlist for January of the 2024 summer transfer market, though Burnley do hold the option to trigger a one-year extension to his deal.

Wolves travel to West Ham United on 17th December, hoping to avenge their 2-0 defeat during the 2022/23 campaign, a result which led to the eventual sacking of Lage in October 2022.