FM21: Jorge Mendes Challenge

[MattyLewis11]

 

There are many types of saves available to challenge your managerial prowess, stemming from the Journeyman, Director of Football, Domestic save or even Multi-Club Ownerships to name a few. 

As we approach the halfway point of FM21 with many people looking to try their hand at something a little different, I would like to present to you my latest challenge, the Jorge Mendes Challenge.

This save was inspired after conducting research on Famalicão FC, the Portuguese side is owned by Israeli billionaire and part-owner of Atlético Madrid after a takeover in 2018–19. The club hold a privileged relationship with Jorge Mendes which has seen them sign high profile players such as Diogo Queiros (Porto), Gil Dias (Monaco), Ruben Vinagre (Wolves) and Manuel Ugarte (CA Fenix).

The Background

Player representatives wield more power than ever before in today's game as the game of football has expanded and evolved over the last decade. This has seen a dramatic influx of money which has turned the world’s pastime develop into a very profitable profession.

Whilst player agents have been prominent across the professional era, a new breed of agent has emerged, the so-called “Super Agent”. 

The Aim

With the knowledge that some clubs are “agent led” or partnered with a specific agency, I thought that it would be a great challenge to replicate this within Football Manager. The aim of the save would be to only sign players who are on the books of a Super Agent. 

In this circumstance, I have opted to select Jorge Mendes who has an estimated net worth of $104 million by Forbes.

Jorge Mendes Network as of 2016, source: The Football Collective

Mendes has an enormous array of contacts at his disposal and arguably stands the tallest in relation to other agents within the game, he has near total control over players in his native land of Portugal and has a client set up which can boast names such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruben Dias, Bernado Silva, Ederson, Ruben Neves, Joao Cancelo and Andre Silva to name a few.

In order to conduct this method in Football Manager, I will include links below to the top five super agents below so that you have access to their client databases. 

1. Jorge Mendes 
2. Pinhas Zahavi
3. Pere Guardiola
4. Jonathan Barnett
5. Mino Raiola

The Rules

Players can only be signed if they are represented by the chosen agent, this includes loan deals.

The Thread

Updates welcomed in the below thread, in which I will be documenting my edition of the Jorge Mendes Challenge.