Ansu Fati, in the year 2020; Alejandro Balde, in 2021; Nico González, in 2022… And since January 2023 he has also been part of the portfolio of representative Jorge Mendes Lamine Yamal, one of the pearls of La Masia. The influential arm of the agent reaches more FC Barcelona players every day and that is why it is common to see him in the capital.
This time Mendes landed this Tuesday afternoon at the Barcelona Airport. The agent, who will return tomorrow, has a full schedule of meetings. The first with the family of Ansu Fati, whose future is up in the air after the club welcomes his departure. They would accept a transfer for around 70 million euros and although Ansu Fati is more in favor of staying, Mendes sees it as viable to close his exit.
Upon his arrival in Barcelona, ​​the Portuguese agent offered a few brief statements in which he praised Ansu Fati, highlighting his virtues. He also left his future open. “I’m here to talk to the family. Ansu is a great player, he has shown all his value when he was at Barcelona before the injury and he’s a phenomenon. We’re going to see what will happen”, he pointed out .
Beyond Ansu Fati, there are several pending files to resolve. The return of Nico González, on loan to Valencia, the renewal of Alejandro Balde with details yet to be defined and the signing of Lamine Yamal’s first professional contract scheduled for July when the youth squad player turns 16.
In addition, although they are not directly represented by their company, Gestifute, there are also players like Abde, on loan to Osasuna, or the goalkeeper Iñaki Peña whose lawyers work with the Portuguese agent and who are also waiting to resolve their future. All the folders will be discussed with the Barcelona sports management in a meeting that will be held on Wednesday morning before the super agent leaves Barcelona.
The Mendes-Barça link was not always this intense. After the arrival of Rafa Márquez (2003) and Deco (2004) the tap was closed. 12 years passed in which there was no footballer represented by Mendes at the Camp Nou. Quite the opposite of Real Madrid which, coinciding with the Guardiola era, signed Mendes representatives such as Pepe, Cristiano Ronaldo, Mourinho, Carvalho, Di MarÃa, Coentrão or James RodrÃguez. The frustrated signing of De Gea in the summer of 2015 moved Mendes away from the Bernabéu and brought him closer to the Camp Nou again.
In 2015 he collaborated in the signing of Arda Turan and in 2016 he definitely reappeared thanks to André Gomes and Paco Alcácer. They were followed by Semedo (2017) and Trincão (2021), currently on loan to Sporting Lisbon. Last year Mendes also intervened so that Adama Traoré played half a season on loan at the Camp Nou.
