Wolves' super agent Jorge Mendes to face court in tax probe

Mendes, a close adviser and partner of Wolves owners Fosun International, has been ordered to give evidence as part of the investigation into Colombian striker Radamel Falcao’s alleged tax evasion, it was reported by Spanish newspaper El Pais.

Falcao, who plays for Monaco but was at Atletico Madrid between 2011 and 2013, is one of six Mendes clients who have been accused of creating a series of companies to allegedly avoid paying millions of pounds in tax in Spain.

Among them are Cristiano Ronaldo and Jose Mourinho, who have been accused of avoiding £12.9m and £2.9m. All strongly deny the allegations.

Mendes has close links with the Wolves owners, who last year purchased a stake of his Gestifute agency, and since taking over the club last year have signed a number of Gestifute’s clients, including Portuguese duo Ivan Cavaleiro and Helder Costa in club record deals.

New boss Nuno Espirito Santo, meanwhile, was Mendes’ first client when he launched his business two decades ago.

Fosun have made no secret of their use of Mendes as an adviser, though Wolves have denied suggestions the 51-year-old has an undue influence on recruitment policy. Speaking to the Express & Star earlier this month, managing director Laurie Dalrymple said: “Jorge Mendes is not in charge of the recruitment of this club. He can’t be. It is not within the rules.

“However, is he a known associate of the owners? Yes he is. He is a friend and he has been for some time. There has never been any secret about that.”

He added:“We have a very established team within the club headed by Kevin (Thelwell). We have a team who look at players from any number of sources, including Jorge and Gestifute.

“The bottom line is we want the best players to come into this club, no matter where they come from.”