Has Real Madrid's association with Jorge Mendes come to an end?
For the first time since 2007, Real Madrid’s first-team squad has no players that are clients of Portuguese superagent Jorge Mendes.
After the sale of James Rodriguez to Everton, there are no Gestifute players currently plying their trade for the Spanish champions - breaking a thirteen year association between Real Madrid and Jorge Mendes.
In that dozen or so years, several Mendes clients passed through the Bernabeu, including Portuguese legend Pepe - who still to this day remains a first-team regular for his country - the multi-Ballon d’Or winning Portuguese talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, and now-PSG star Angel Di Maria.
Indeed, including the trio of Pepe, Ronaldo and Di Maria, eight Mendes players have played for Real Madrid over the last twelve years, with Ezeguiel Garay, Ricardo Carvalho, Fabio Coentrao, Fabinho and James Rodriguez also representing Madrid in that time. Rodriguez was the most recent Mendes arrival, joining the club in 2014.
It should also be remembered that Jose Mourinho, another Gestifute client, also joined Real Madrid in 2010 alongside the likes of Ricardo Carvalho and Di Maria, winning La Liga and the Copa del Rey at the club.
But that spell has now come to an end, which begs the question; is their lack of Mendes signings a coincidence that will soon be rectified, or a change in direction from the Spanish giants?
